


The Price of Life

by All_My_Characters_Are_Dead



Series: Invaluable [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Look guys there’s a happy ending but it still gonna take a while to get there, M/M, the vampire AU no one asked for but everyone needs, there is pain and suffering involved here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-27 10:54:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 39,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6281734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_My_Characters_Are_Dead/pseuds/All_My_Characters_Are_Dead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oikawa, a high-ranking vampire, trespasses onto human territory to watch them, only to run into vampire hunters, one of which is none other than the leader of a particularly deadly group, Iwaizumi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Contract

"You're not supposed to be wandering around the human area," Hanamaki admonished. Oikawa shrugged, his attention fixed on the humans below his perch, on top of a building. "As much as I like getting into trouble with you, trespassing in the human area is a bad idea, Oikawa."

"It's not like I'm going to bring one home, Makki," Oikawa sighed. "I just want to watch them. Humans are never around for long, after all." Hanamaki shrugged.

"Mine has stayed a while," he pointed out.

"Your human might as well be an honorary demon," Oikawa replied, frowning. "He's lasted a long time, too. I expected him to die years ago."

"Humans with a blood contract live a long time," Hanamaki replied. "You know that. So really, all you have to do to get a human to stick around is make a contract with one." Oikawa frowned.

"Makki, that's a really irresponsible thing to say, even for you," Oikawa informed him. Hanamaki shrugged.

"Let's go home before the vampire hunters come out to play, okay? I don't feel like bleeding tonight," he suggested. Oikawa sighed, glancing up at the darkening sky.

"Well, I wouldn't want to get you in trouble with your master for not being home on time," Oikawa mused.

"He's not my master!" Hanamaki snapped. Oikawa rolled his eyes and made his way to the other end of the roof, closer to their own territory. Hanamaki followed. "He's not!"

"Makki, you have a blood contract with him that's been in place for decades. Even though I keep expecting him to age and die, he hasn't so far. And you're magically bound to follow his commands. I'm pretty sure that makes him your master," Oikawa replied. The indignant expression left Hanamaki's face, and he turned back toward Oikawa.

"That's why you still only feed from other vampires. You don't want to make a contract with a human, because you're afraid they'll use it against you," he realized. "How did I not see that before?" Oikawa scowled and hopped from the roof they were on to the next one, heading back to the safety of vampire territory.

"I just don't need a human who's going to decide they want to run off and go back to their old life," Oikawa huffed. He didn't add that he was pretty sure any human who would be willing to make a contract with him wouldn't be someone he'd want to be around. Oikawa sighed and launched himself to the next roof. In the instant before he landed safely, there was a loud cracking sound, like the air was tearing itself apart, and then Oikawa's right leg was on fire. He yelped and landed heavily, and his leg collapsed. Hanamaki crouched over him, staying low and positioning himself protectively over Oikawa.

"It's the hunters," Hanamaki growled. "The bullet's probably silver. We have to get it out." He reached for Oikawa's injured leg, but stopped when Oikawa seized his wrist.

"Run, Makki," Oikawa hissed. "Don't let them get both of us. You have a master to get back to," he teased, trying to cover the fact that his wound was burning, white-hot pain lancing up his leg. Footsteps on the roof told Oikawa the hunters were almost on them. "Go, Makki! That's an order!" Hanamaki flinched, then turned and fled, dropping over the edge of the roof to the street below, scattering humans with a hiss and a flash of fangs, then sprinting for the border. Oikawa bit his lip to keep from whimpering. At least Hanamaki was on his way to safety.

"You got him." Oikawa forced himself to look up as a pair of shadows fell over him.

"You let the other one get away," grumbled one of them. Oikawa stared up at the two vampire hunters standing over him. They were almost the same height, one with spiky black hair and one with short blond hair.

"Sorry," the blond one sighed. He eyed Oikawa warily. "We should finish him off before he gets desperate enough to attack." The spiky-haired one nodded grimly and lifted his gun, the barrel lined up with Oikawa's face...and didn't pull the trigger.

"Just do it already," Oikawa growled. Or, he meant for the words to be angry and forceful, but instead, they came out as a whimper. His eyes burned with tears of pain and frustration. He was going to die here, in human territory, and Hanamaki would probably get blamed for Oikawa's death. He really hoped they wouldn't take Hanamaki's human as punishment.

"I've never seen a vampire cry," the dark-haired hunter mused.

"He's just trying to catch us off guard," the blond one growled. "Shoot him, Iwaizumi." Oikawa froze. Iwaizumi? No. No no no no no. Oikawa had heard rumors about a new hunter, a fierce man who led a new band of hunters, all armed with guns, but skilled and strong enough to take on a vampire without them. The strongest of them all, of course, was their leader, Iwaizumi. Oikawa knew for a fact he was going to die now.

"Kyoutani, track the one that escaped. Make sure he actually crossed back over into vampire territory. Don't kill him," Iwaizumi ordered. The other hunter looked like he wanted to protest, but he just bowed his head, then left in the direction Hanamaki had gone. Oikawa really, really hoped that Hanamaki had obeyed his order.

"Don't kill Makki," Oikawa whispered. "He didn't want to come here, he just came to try to get me to go back. He didn't do anything wrong. He wouldn't even feed from any of the humans here, because he's contracted. He's not a danger to anyone." Oikawa was babbling, and he knew it.

"Kyoutani probably won't be able to catch him. Your babysitter is safe," Iwaizumi replied evenly, crouching beside Oikawa's injured leg. "Looks like I got your knee. No wonder you went down," he added conversationally, as though he often shot people and then discussed the injury with them afterwards. Iwaizumi pulled a knife from his belt and bent over Oikawa's wound. Before the vampire could ask what he was doing, agony lanced through him again, emanating from his existing wound. Oikawa screamed. Iwaizumi muttered something about noisy vampires, and the pain shifted, Oikawa's vision starting to swim. Unlike most vampires, Oikawa didn't get into many fights; he preferred to charm his way out of difficult situations. Because of this, he hadn't been injured much, and so he had a very low pain tolerance. Whatever the hunter was doing, Oikawa wished he would just kill him already so the pain would stop.

After a few more seconds, just when Oikawa thought he might actually pass out - he was looking forward to not having to stare down the gun that was going to kill him, actually - a bit of the sharpness of his pain dropped away. Oikawa whimpered, confused. Why did it hurt less? Did Iwaizumi have something more horrible in store for him?

"I got the silver out, so quit sniveling. A bit of blood and you'll heal up just fine, right?" Iwaizumi asked. Oikawa froze. Was this human going to feed him? Why? Was he going to heal Oikawa and then hurt him again? He'd heard rumors of humans making contracts with vampires to use them for twisted games like that, but he hadn't thought vampire hunters would do such a thing. They usually just killed vampires, after all.

"What are you doing?" Oikawa growled. Iwaizumi shrugged and carefully set aside his gun.

"Well, I'm not going to carry you to the border. So you'll have to heal up and then scram," he replied. Oikawa's eyes flew open wide. "But in return for me letting you live, you have to do something for me." Oikawa eyed him suspiciously. "You and your friend, Makki or whoever, you go back, and you find a vampire named Sawamura, and you tell him to give Suga back to us. If Suga isn't returned within two weeks, we'll raid your territory and burn everything to the ground. Deal?"

"I can't make a vampire give up his human," Oikawa snapped. "That would be sentencing them both to death."

"Then you better find a solution," Iwaizumi growled. "I want my friend back. So as soon as you're healed, you scamper on back to Vampireville or whatever and do as you're told." Oikawa frowned; this human was really planning on releasing him, even healing him? But human mages were rare, and most of them couldn't heal vampires, and Oikawa was pretty sure Iwaizumi wasn't a mage anyway, so how was he planning to...?

Iwaizumi's forearm suddenly dominated Oikawa's vision, and the knife Iwaizumi had pulled from his belt earlier - there was already blood on the blade, probably from digging the bullet out of Oikawa's leg - flashed. The warm, sweet scent of fresh human blood swamped Oikawa's senses, and he would have swayed and fallen over if he hadn't already been laying prone on the roof of a building. Iwaizumi tilted his arm, brought the bleeding cut to Oikawa's mouth.

"Drink up. Then get your ass home and get me my friend back," Iwaizumi snapped. Oikawa opened his mouth to protest, to repeat that separating a contracted pair meant starvation for the vampire and an eventual death of old age for the human, because that was how blood contracts worked; humans got obedience and longevity and vampires got a steady food source. So if Iwaizumi's friend really had been taken by a vampire, he was either drained dry to prevent a blood contract from forming, or he held this Sawamura person's life in his hands. Or veins.

Oikawa never got a chance to say this, though, because Iwaizumi's blood, mingled with traces of Oikawa's own blood from the knife blade, fell onto his lips, and he licked the sweet, coppery liquid on reflex.

 _Shit._ Oikawa really, really hoped that there hadn't been enough of his blood in that mix to count. And even if there had been, a few drops of blood didn't make a contract. So if Iwaizumi left now, everything would be fine. But Iwaizumi didn't leave, and he didn't even move his arm away. He just pressed the cut to Oikawa's lips. Oikawa wanted to refuse, to keep his mouth tightly shut, but his own wound was still throbbing, and this human wasn't going to kill him, so the only way to get his pain to stop was...

Oikawa parted his lips and let Iwaizumi's blood flow over his tongue. The vampire gulped at the liquid, reveling in the hot slide of it down his throat, and the pain in his leg faded immediately. Oikawa felt an odd tingling sensation replace the pain - the magic of a contract and the healing effect of human blood combining to whisk away his discomfort.

Oikawa found himself clutching at Iwaizumi's forearm as the human pulled away. Oikawa whined in protest, and the hunter grimaced.

"Keep your end of the deal," Iwaizumi ordered. Then he stood, glanced at Oikawa's wound and noted that it was already healing, then turned and exited Oikawa's field of vision. The vampire, who was healing but not yet well enough to follow, squeezed his eyes shut.

Maybe the contract would fade. After all, it's not like he'd really drank all that much, right? It didn't really count as a contract. Or at least, that's what he told himself as the tingle of magic faded.

Of course, he couldn't convince himself, because he couldn't shake the urge to immediately race home and find out who Sawamura was. Because Iwaizumi had ordered him to hold up his end of the bargain, and Oikawa's end of the bargain was to tell Sawamura to give back the hunter's friend within two weeks.

Oikawa wondered if he would last that long without feeding again. Because as long as the contract was in place, any blood besides Iwaizumi's would be poison to Oikawa. The vampire wondered briefly if the human even realized what he'd done.


	2. Guest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since so many people are interested in this AU, here's another chapter!

Oikawa stepped over the border into vampire-controlled territory and glanced around. The need to find Sawamura, to follow the order the hunter had given him, urged him forward, and he winced as his knee twinged. Iwaizumi's blood had healed him enough to walk, but Oikawa knew the discomfort would linger for a while. His pants were probably ruined, with the hole from the bullet and the blood from the wound.

"Oikawa! You're alive!" Oikawa was knocked off his feet as a short, orange-haired vampire tackled him. Oikawa yelped and went down. He sighed and looked up at the younger vampire, who leaned over him and grinned. "Hanamaki said you got hurt! Are you okay?"

"Makki made it back?" Oikawa sighed in relief. "Good."

"His human hauled him off to make sure he wasn't hurt, but he told us to keep an eye on the border in case you made it back with hunters on your tail," Hinata explained. "How did you get away? He said they were almost on top of you!"

"It's not important," Oikawa replied, sitting up and grimacing. He needed to figure out who the hell Sawamura was, convince him to do something about the hunter's friend, and then either get back to the hunter to feed, or find someone to break the contract. "Hinata, do you know anyone named Sawamura?"

"Yeah! Sawamura's in charge of all of us border guards," Hinata answered. "Everybody knows him!" Oikawa blinked. In charge of the border guards...Sawamura was the Border Commander? Oikawa had only ever heard the vampire referred to by his title. "Do you need him for something?"

"Sort of. Does he have a human?" Oikawa asked. Hinata tilted his head.

"You mean Sugawara? He's really nice!" Hinata answered cheerfully. "Want to meet him? I'll show you the way!" Oikawa didn't really want to face the Border Commander and talk to him about a human he was possibly contracted to right after having trespassed in human territory. Oikawa might have been born into a higher rank than the border guards, but their commander had earned his title and he really wasn't someone Oikawa wanted to get on the bad side of. But Oikawa found himself nodding and getting to his feet, then following the cheerful little vampire to the border guards' barracks, which was only a few minutes' walk from the border.

"Hinata! Your patrol isn't supposed to be done yet!" someone said as the two of them walked into the barracks. Hinata squeaked and hid behind Oikawa, who studied the speaker thoughtfully. The man was obviously human, with soft gray hair and a beauty mark near one eye, but Oikawa had never seen him before.

"Oikawa's back, though!" Hinata protested, peeking around Oikawa to pout at the human. "Besides, he came to see you and the commander!" The human blinked, then smiled and held a hand out to Oikawa.

"Hello, Oikawa. It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you made it back safely," the human said. "I'm Sugawara Koushi."

"So you're the famous Suga," Oikawa replied cheerfully, shaking the man's hand. Sugawara tensed.

"Where did you hear that name?" he asked. Oikawa shrugged and looked around.

"It's not that important. Is Sawamura here?"

"He's in his office," Sugawara answered. "This way." The human led Oikawa farther into the building, to a small office where the intimidating Border Commander sat, glaring at a report.

"Koushi, was that Hinata? What's he doing back so soon?" the commander asked without looking up.

"He brought us a visitor," the human replied. The commander set his report down and lifted his head, glancing from Oikawa to Sugawara and back.

"Oikawa, you're safe. Good," Sawamura said. "What can I do for you?" Oikawa considered making a lighthearted remark like he usually would, but with Sawamura and the human right there, Iwaizumi's command rose, and Oikawa knew if he fought it, it would only make it stronger.

"You have two weeks to return the human," Oikawa informed him. "The hunters are going to launch an all-out attack if you don't." Sawamura scowled, and while Oikawa normally would have fled or tried to lighten the mood, this time he was distracted by how light he suddenly felt. He hadn't realized just how much weight that command had been putting on him.

"You sound sure of that," Sawamura said slowly. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, I just had a little run-in with a hunter. Nothing serious," Oikawa assured them. "I happened to overhear him talking to his friend."

"So if your 'little run-in' wasn't serious, why did Hanamaki say you were injured and to watch for you?" Sawamura demanded. Oikawa stepped back toward the door.

"I don't know why Makki was so worried," Oikawa lied. He really, really hoped neither of them would notice the tear and blood stains on his pants. He'd done what Iwaizumi told him. Now he needed to talk to someone who could get rid of the contract. Whether to actually return the human or not was up to Sawamura.

"Oikawa." Sawamura's voice was stern. "Do you know what the hunters' names were?" If Sawamura knew it was Iwaizumi, he probably wouldn't believe that the encounter wasn't serious. They'd already lost a several young vampires and one of the only mages that worked with them to Iwaizumi's band of hunters. There was no way anyone would believe Oikawa had gotten out of any sort of encounter with Iwaizumi alive, let alone uninjured.

"No, I don't. Sorry. Good luck with the whole returning-the-human thing," Oikawa added, turning to leave.

"I'll walk you out," the human said, glancing at Sawamura before escorting Oikawa out of the office. "You lied to Daichi," Sugawara murmured as they walked. Oikawa tensed.

"I'm shocked that a human would accuse me of something like that!" Oikawa protested indignantly.

"You met Iwaizumi," was all Sugawara said. "And there's no way you met him and got away and didn't know who he was." Oikawa feigned confusion, glad that the weight of Iwaizumi's order was gone, because it made it much easier to lie and charm his way out of suspicion.

"He didn't really introduce himself," Oikawa told him. "Iwaizumi is that up and coming new hunter, right?" he added innocently.

"Iwaizumi and his hunters are the only ones that called me Suga," the human replied. "And Iwaizumi is the only one that would let you go."

"What makes you think I didn't just escape before they saw me? Have some faith in my abilities, human," Oikawa sniffed haughtily. Then he shifted the subject. "You seem to know the hunters well." Sugawara shrugged.

"Of course I do. Before I came here with Daichi, I was training to be a member of their group," he explained.

"No wonder those hunters are eager to get you back. You're one of them," Oikawa realized. Then he tilted his head curiously. "How did a hunter-in-training end up kidnapped by a vampire?"

"I'll tell you my story if you tell me what really happened with Iwaizumi," Sugawara replied, smiling brightly.

"You're still doubting me?" Oikawa gasped, as though shocked and scandalized by this. Suga just shrugged.

"The vampire who came in to ask Daichi to step up patrols was really upset, and he _did_ say you'd been injured, but you conveniently let that out," he pointed out. "How did you heal so fast?"

"Tell me about how you ended up here, and I'll consider answering that," Oikawa countered. He was about to leave - they'd reached the building's entrance - but then a thought occurred to him. He knew that Hanamaki usually fed from his human every few days. "Sugawara, how often does Daichi feed from you?" Suga tilted his head, his gaze darting down to Oikawa's knee, where the fabric of his pants was stained with dried blood.

"Usually once a week, unless he's been injured or something," the human answered. "He said it's about the same frequency he needed to feed before he met me." Oikawa hid a grimace; that meant he didn't have much time to find a way to get rid of this contract, because Oikawa had been injured, and he usually fed every other day. If he couldn't find a solution within the next two days, he'd need to find a way to track down the hunter and convince him to let Oikawa drink his blood. Oikawa wasn't looking forward to that; the hunters would probably shoot him on sight.

If only Yahaba hadn't vanished; Oikawa would have asked him for suggestions. But the mage had been missing for days, after an encounter with members of Iwaizumi's hunting group, and was presumed dead. Oikawa sighed. He'd have to talk to Hanamaki about contracts, and that was a conversation that Oikawa didn't want to have.

\-----

Iwaizumi grimaced as he returned to the house he and his fellow hunters used as a base. His mind kept sliding back to the way the vampire had looked when Iwaizumi stood over him. The vampire had been terrified, eyes wide as he stared down the barrel of Iwaizumi's gun. And then, in pain and afraid for his life, the vampire had asked Iwaizumi, not to spare his own life, but to spare his friend. Makki, the wounded vampire had called his companion.

Then, while feeding the vampire, Iwaizumi didn't really have anywhere else to look but at the person drinking his blood, and he couldn't help but notice the fear and pain in the vampire's eyes. Iwaizumi wondered briefly what exactly the vampire had been afraid of at that moment. Iwaizumi also wondered if the vampire's hair was as soft and fluffy as it had looked, despite the way the vampire had been writhing around while Iwaizumi dug the bullet out of his leg.

To make things worse, ever since he'd healed the vampire and sent him off, Iwaizumi had felt an uncomfortable tugging sensation in his chest. After leaving the vampire, Iwaizumi had managed to meet up with Kyoutani and confirm the vampires had left the area, but concealing his increasing discomfort the whole time had been a challenge. By the time he returned to their base, the discomfort had become an ache. Fortunately, his group had a guest that might be able to explain what was going on.

"Iwaizumi! Kyoutani said you two ran into a couple of vampires. Everything okay?" Kindaichi, one of the younger members of Iwaizumi's hunting team, approached him as he made his way toward the stairs leading to the basement, where their guest was. "Your arm! The vampire didn't manage to land a hit, did he?" he added, noticing the cut on Iwaizumi's arm.

"It's nothing," Iwaizumi replied. "Is Kyoutani guarding our guest?"

"Well, I heard yelling coming from the basement, so probably. You should have Kunimi take a look at your arm, though," Kindaichi told him, referring to their group's doctor and sole mage.

"I'm not going to bother Kunimi with something as small as this," Iwaizumi replied. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Our guest tried to attack Watari when he brought him food earlier, but only because he thought it was Kyoutani," Kindaichi replied, frowning. Iwaizumi sighed.

"All right. I'm going to talk to our guest, then," Iwaizumi replied. He made his way down to the basement, where two voices came from the one room with the door closed. The door and the wall on either side of it shimmered slightly; Kunimi had warded the room so their guest wouldn't be able to use magic or escape. Iwaizumi knocked, and the voices broke off. A moment later, the door opened, and Kyoutani stepped aside to let Iwaizumi in. He stepped into the room and eyed the brown-haired man who sat on the bed, arms crossed and glaring at Kyoutani. "Kyoutani, did you get his name yet?"

"He's still being stubborn," Kyoutani replied angrily. "And he keeps insulting my hair." Iwaizumi resisted the urge to chuckle at that. Instead, he leaned against the wall and fixed their guest with a steely gaze.

"Kyoutani, could you give me a minute with him?" Iwaizumi asked. It wasn't really a question, though, and Kyoutani knew it. With one final glare at the man on the bed, Kyoutani left the room, closing the door behind him.

"So you've decided to break me yourself?" the guest asked. Iwaizumi shook his head.

"I already know enough about you for the moment. You're a blood mage, and you work for the vampires. I don't need your name. What I need from you is for you to listen, and if you feel like saying something, feel free," the hunter replied.

"If you know that much, you could just ask the vampires about me. Kyoutani said you ran into some today," the guest said. "I don't think he meant to tell me, though."

"I shot one of them," Iwaizumi informed him flatly. The man tensed, worry flashing across his face. "He's alive. I needed him to take a message to someone for me, so I helped him heal." The man's eyes narrowed.

"You shot a vampire. And then you healed him so he would be your messenger?" The guest shook his head. "You're even worse than I thought."

"The vampire Sawamura took my friend. I'm going to get him back. If I have to use a vampire to do that, I will," Iwaizumi replied. "I wasn't finished, though. Ever since I left him healing, I've had this weird ache in my chest that got worse as I came back here. Can vampire saliva be poisonous?" For a long moment, the guest stared at him, shock and dismay flickering across his features.

"Vampires don't have venom," he said slowly. "Um...the vampire only drank your blood, right? None of his own was mixed with it?"

"I don't think so. There might've been some of his blood on the knife I used to cut my arm so he could drink, but-"

"You used a knife with his blood on it to cut your arm, then had him drink from the wound?" the man's voice rose a full octave as he spoke. "You can't just do that! If you're aching since then, some of his blood must have mixed with yours when he drank! How could you do that? Don't you know what that _does_?"

"Uh...no?" Iwaizumi scowled. "I kill vampires. I don't usually worry about what they eat."

"You made a blood contract with some poor vampire!" the guest shouted. "He's going to starve to death if you don't find him and keep feeding him!"

"I did what now?" Iwaizumi gaped at him for a few seconds. Then he shook himself and added, "Serves him right if he does starve to death. He was trespassing, and he's lucky I needed him, or he'd be dead already." The guest scowled.

"You don't even know him," the guest snapped.

"True. But you probably do," Iwaizumi replied evenly. "I don't know if he'll actually deliver my message."

"Well, if you told him to do it after making the contract, he wouldn't have a choice," the guest grumbled. Iwaizumi tilted his head. The vampire wouldn't have a choice?

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Send your attack dog back in. He's at least fun to rile up," the guest complained. Iwaizumi shrugged and turned to leave. "Wait." The hunter paused and looked over his shoulder. "Just in case it was someone I know...do you know the name of the vampire you shot and then contracted?"

"No, I don't. He called his friend Makki, though," he answered. The guest paled.

"Never mind. Don't send the attack dog in. I'll tell you my name, anything you want to know. But please let me dissolve the blood contract. He never wanted to be tied to a human," the guest said. Iwaizumi frowned at the sudden change of heart, and the other man explained, "I know him. A contract was the last thing he wanted, and he may have trespassed, but he doesn't deserve to starve to death because you don't like vampires. Let me save him, and I'll tell you anything you want." Iwaizumi considered for a moment.

"Will dissolving the contract make this ache go away?" the hunter asked, rubbing absently at his chest over where the discomfort was concentrated.

"You're only uncomfortable because you're away from him. New contracts are like that," the guest replied. "But yeah, if I end the contract, it'll go away."

"All right. Let's start with names," Iwaizumi replied. "Two of them: yours, and the vampire's."

"If the one who ran was Makki, then the one you shot was probably Oikawa Tooru," the guest told him. Iwaizumi considered repeating the name, but then he shook his head and refocused.

"And your name?" he prompted.

"Yahaba Shigeru," the guest replied, sighing. "Before I tell you anything else, let me help Oikawa."

"Tomorrow," Iwaizumi replied. "Or the day after. Not because I'm being spiteful, but because I have to try negotiating with the border vampires. I don't want to get killed for having captured you in the first place. I'll let you know." Yahaba nodded, falling silent, and Iwaizumi left the room. Kyoutani was waiting in the hallway.

"How did it go?" the younger hunter asked.

"His name is Yahaba, and we're going to use him to get Suga back, just like the vampires we saw earlier," Iwaizumi replied grimly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me update faster, just so everyone knows!


	3. Blood

Oikawa hesitated outside the door to Hanamaki's home. He lifted his hand to knock, but do it. As soon as Hanamaki answered, he'd ask questions. He'd want to know how Oikawa got away from the hunters. Oikawa would have to tell him about the contract. He'd have to admit that there was a human - a _vampire hunter_ \- that could give Oikawa orders he'd be compelled to obey. Oikawa sighed and leaned forward, his forehead hitting the door with an audible thump. A moment later, the door opened, and Oikawa nearly fell, letting out an undignified yelp.

"Oh, hey. You're alive," a familiar voice observed. Oikawa regained his balance and recognized the person who'd opened the door as Matsukawa Issei, the human Hanamaki was contracted to. "Takahiro was really worried about you."

"You say that like you weren't worried, Mattsun," Oikawa pouted. The human chuckled.

"I knew you'd make it back. Are you here to see him?" he asked. Oikawa was about to nod, but then he stopped and eyed Matskawa with sudden interest.

"As long as you tell him I'm okay, it should be fine," Oikawa replied. Then, before he could reconsider, he blurted out, "Do you know how to end a blood contract?" Matsukawa froze, then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Oikawa knew he was putting the pieces together; Hanamaki had probably told Matsukawa about Oikawa getting shot, and the hunters closing in, and now here was Oikawa, unhurt, asking about blood contracts. Oikawa expected teasing. He expected Matsukawa to call his on contracted vampire to help tease Oikawa. Instead, Matsukawa seemed to be taking this very seriously.

"I only know three ways. An old vampire or a mage might know more, so you might want to ask someone else, but I'll tell you what I know." Oikawa listened intently as Matsukawa continued, "If you can get a blood mage to help you, they can undo a contract." Neither of them mentioned the fact that mages were rare, and the one blood mage they knew, Yahaba, was missing. "Or you can turn the human into a vampire. Of course, that would get you executed for creating newbies without permission."

"And the third way?" Oikawa asked, hoping that this would actually be a reasonable option.

"You can kill the human. Of course, if you just kill them by breaking their neck or something, it isn't guaranteed to work, and you might starve. But if you kill them by drinking all of their blood, then all of the blood that the contract is tied to is in you, so the contract ends neatly instead of possibly staying in place after the human's death." Oikawa groaned. This sounded like a better option than trying to find another blood mage, sure, and it was definitely better than risking getting himself executed because he turned a vampire hunter into a vampire. But there was that one, tiny little detail that stood in the way: Iwaizumi was a vampire hunter, and it was really, really unlikely for him to just lay back and let Oikawa drain him dry. Not to mention, if Oikawa did that, all of the other hunters in Iwaizumi's group would be out for his head.

"So, my options are either dead, me dying, or the human dying?" Oikawa grimaced. Not that he had any proof Yahaba was dead. But the blood mage had never vanished without a trace before, and the last time he'd been seen had been in the company of Iwaizumi's fellow hunters... Maybe Oikawa would try the killing-the-human thing after all. And if he happened to take down a few extra humans, well, it was their own fault for attacking Yahaba. "Thanks, Mattsun! You've been a great help!" he chirped. Before Matsukawa could reply, Oikawa turned and headed back toward the border.

"Issei? Was that Oikawa? Is he okay?" Hanamaki called from upstairs. Matsukawa didn't reply immediately, so Hanamaki went to the door and found Matsukawa with an odd expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I think I may have just given Oikawa an excuse to murder people," Matsukawa said faintly.

\-----

Iwaizumi frowned to himself as he headed for the room on the first floor that Kunimi used as the group's infirmary. Not that he needed medical attention, because his arm was fine. Even the discomfort in his chest had started to ease, which was probably because of passing time, not getting closer to the vampire whose absence was supposedly causing the ache.

"Iwaizumi," Kunimi greeted him when he reached the mage's office. "Here for a bandage for your arm?"

"Actually, I came to ask if you still have a way of contacting the border vampires to ask for a meeting," Iwaizumi replied.

"Of course. I'll arrange something as soon as I can," Kunimi assured him. Iwaizumi thanked him, then left before he could be offered a bandage again. He considered going to his room and trying to sleep, but he didn't feel tired yet. He knew he should probably eat something - he'd fed a vampire earlier, after all - but he wasn't hungry. The discomfort in his chest was back to a faint tugging sensation, and before he realized what he was doing, he was walking out the house's back door. He sat against the wall, then tilted his head back. The stars were out, he noticed absently. His gaze trailed along the line between the brightly spotted night sky and the shadow of the house's roof. Just as he was about to close his eyes, an irregularity in the shape of the roof overhead caught his attention. Part of the shadows came out farther than the rest, and for a second, Iwaizumi thought maybe there was some sort of animal at the edge of the roof.

Then the shadow shifted, and the vampire dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch in front of Iwaizumi.

"Hello again," the vampire purred.

"Oikawa," Iwaizumi growled. Why was the vampire here? Where was his gun when he needed it? Had he left it inside? He didn't remember putting it down, but he must have, or it would be in its holster at his hip where it was supposed to be. He scrambled to his feet, keeping his back to the wall, and eyed the vampire warily.

"Oh, you found out my name somehow," Oikawa observed. "Not that it matters." The vampire shifted his weight, and Iwaizumi brought his arms up to protect himself as Oikawa lunged forward, fangs glinting in the starlight. Oikawa grabbed Iwaizumi's arm and yanked him forward, catching him off guard, then slammed him back into the wall, hoping to daze him. Instead, Iwaizumi twisted, using Oikawa's momentum to shift their positions so Oikawa was the one with his back to the wall. The vampire's eyes widened, and he lashed out with his fists, but Oikawa wasn't used to combat, and Iwaizumi caught his wrists and pinned them to the wall over Oikawa's head.

"What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to-"

"I delivered your message," Oikawa hissed. "And I don't know what you think happened to your friend Suga, but he seems perfectly happy where he's at," he added. Iwaizumi scowled and leaned in toward the vampire.

"You don't know anything about Suga," Iwaizumi snapped. His mind raced; he'd been planning to use Yahaba's desire to save this vampire as a way to scout into the vampires' territory and find where Sawamura was. He hadn't counted on Oikawa coming to the hunters' base. Which reminded him... "How did you know where I was?"

"I can smell your blood, even if it is stale by now," he replied with a smirk, his gaze shifting to Iwaizumi's arm, where he still hadn't bandaged his wound from earlier. He tugged experimentally at his wrists, testing Iwaizumi's grip, and the hunter tightened his hold until Oikawa winced. "You're so rough; why does anyone follow you?" Oikawa complained.

"Because I'm really good at killing vampires," Iwaizumi replied, leaning forward, expression dark and determined. At that moment, Oikawa realized something very important.

"You're shorter than me," he said without thinking. For a moment, they were both silent. Then Iwaizumi's scowl returned in full force.

"You can't fight worth shit," the hunter snapped. "Why are you here anyway?" Oikawa, who was increasingly aware of the fact that, while Iwaizumi didn't seem to be armed with any weapons capable of killing vampires - if he was, he would've killed Oikawa by now - there were most likely several fully armed vampire-killing enthusiasts in the house he was pinned against. He had to find a way to drain Iwaizumi quickly, or he wouldn't get out of this alive.

"Because you _contracted_ me, you asshole!" Oikawa hissed. "You _shot_ me and then you contracted me and I'm hungry! You should take responsibility and feed me!" Iwaizumi seemed to be caught off guard by this, which was the point, but before Oikawa could take advantage, the hunter had recovered and was glaring at him again.

"If I'd known you would be so whiny, I would've shot you somewhere fatal instead of in the leg," Iwaizumi grumbled. "And it's not like I meant to make a contract." Then, to Oikawa's utter astonishment, Iwaizumi released his wrists and stepped back. His surprise must have shown, because the hunter grumbled, "I don't have my weapons, so I can't kill you, and everyone else is either asleep or on watch." Iwaizumi ran a hand through his hair and sighed. That was the opening Oikawa needed. He surged forward, slamming into the hunter, who grunted at the impact and stumbled backwards, trying to regain his balance, only to trip in the darkness. Iwaizumi landed on his back, Oikawa on top of him, straddling his waist. The vampire didn't take the time to smirk or otherwise enjoy the fact that this time he'd managed to surprise the hunter. Instead, Oikawa gripped the hunter's hair and pulled, tilted his head back to expose his neck, then dropped his own head and sank his fangs into Iwaizumi's skin.

Blood sprang up immediately, and Oikawa had to lock his lips around the puncture wounds left by his fangs to make sure none of the hot crimson liquid escaped. He drank quickly, trying to just finish this and rid himself of this awful contract. Iwaizumi snarled, at the pain of being bitten and at the odd sensation of having his blood sucked out through the resulting wounds, and brought his hand up to Oikawa's head. The hunter's fingers tangled in the vampire's hair, preparing to yank him away from his neck, and paused.

Because Oikawa's hair was just as soft and fluffy as it looked, damn it.

Oikawa felt Iwaizumi's grip on his hair and growled in frustration. Of course the hunter wouldn't just lay back and let Oikawa drink his blood. But that didn't mean Oikawa was going to let this contract nonsense continue, so he shifted, bringing his knee from where it rested beside the human's hip and driving it into his stomach. The vampire didn't have much technique, but the blow was enough to postpone Iwaizumi yanking on his hair to stop Oikawa from drinking. Pleased, Oikawa left his knee there and put his weight into it.

"Oikawa," Iwaizumi gasped, the weight making it difficult to talk normally. "Stop it." Oikawa froze. No, no, no. He tried to keep drinking. He really did. But apparently the weight of a direct command, instead of an indirect one like 'Keep your end of the deal,' was actually impossible to deny. For a moment they stayed there, Oikawa frozen in place, his mouth filling with Iwaizumi's blood but unable to swallow. "Get off of me." Oikawa tried to resist, he really did. But his body moved automatically. He just barely managed to direct himself so his mouth was still over the wounds on the hunter's throat, keeping any of the blood from falling. Of course, this position left Oikawa's own neck craned uncomfortably, but as soon as Iwaizumi left a gap or retracted an order or did anything that would let him, Oikawa fully intended to keep right on draining every drop of the human's blood. "Sit up." Oikawa fought that command, fought it as hard as he could, but his body still jerked upright, pulling his mouth from Iwaizumi's bleeding neck. Without Oikawa actually sucking the blood from the wounds, though, the bleeding had slowed a bit. Iwaizumi lifted a hand to his neck, putting pressure on the puncture marks to slow the bleeding further. "Why did you do that? Answer me!" Iwaizumi ordered when Oikawa didn't reply immediately.

"If you die from me draining you, the contract will go away and I won't starve," Oikawa answered, his mouth moving before he could figure out a way to answer without telling the truth. He felt some of Iwaizumi's blood trickle from the corner of his mouth and swiped his tongue out to catch it before it could trail down his chin. For a second, Oikawa worried he still wouldn't be able to swallow, but apparently the contract magic was satisfied with his obedience of Iwaizumi's earlier order to stop, and the vampire swallowed the blood down.

"You were trying to kill me to get out of the contract?" Iwaizumi repeated.

"Well, your group ruined my chances of getting a blood mage to undo it when you killed Yahaba," Oikawa snapped. "Which is all the more reason to kill you." The bleeding had stopped now, but Iwaizumi's fingers, still shone dark and wet in the starlight when he pulled them away from his neck as he sat up.

"Yahaba isn't dead," Iwaizumi replied sharply. He hadn't been planning to reveal the fact that the blood mage was alive until Kunimi had arranged a meeting with the border vampires, but he hadn't been planning on being attacked by Oikawa, either. Oikawa was staring at him. "We captured him and stuck him in the basement, we didn't kill him," Iwaizumi added, gesturing to the house. If Oikawa hadn't already been sitting, he might have fallen over at that news. Yahaba was alive. Yahaba was _here_.

"Give him back," Oikawa demanded.

"Once we get some information from him, we will," Iwaizumi replied. "But no one's supposed to know he's alive, so you'd better come with me so I can keep an eye on you."

"What? Where are you going?" Oikawa hissed.

"To get Kunimi to check my neck, since you decided to chew on it because you're apparently the whiniest, most impatient vampire in existence," Iwaizumi replied, standing. "You have to do what I say, right? Follow me, and no attacking people."

"I hate you," Oikawa informed him as the commands settled over him. Iwaizumi shrugged and walked into the house. Oikawa followed, his legs carrying him after Iwaizumi even though what he really wanted to do was turn and run. He'd come to finish this, to kill this human and possibly his comrades, and then leave. Instead, he was being marched into the hunters' lair.

Oikawa wondered if Iwaizumi was going to shoot him as soon as they got inside, where the hunter's weapons probably were.


	4. Comfort

Oikawa stepped into the hunters' home and found two of Iwaizumi's fellow hunters in the room, which seemed to be the house's kitchen. They looked up to greet Iwaizumi, then saw the blood drying on his neck and hand, and Oikawa standing behind him. The taller of the two surged to his feet, seizing his gun, which had been laying on the table, and aimed at Oikawa. The shorter one took a step back, staring at the wound on Iwaizumi's neck.

"Kindaichi. Kunimi. Stand down," Iwaizumi ordered.

"But he's-" the taller one protested.

"Your neck-" the shorter one added.

"I know," Iwaizumi interrupted them both. "Kunimi, could you patch me up? Kindaichi, no shooting Oikawa. We can use him," he added. The tall one with the gun must be Kindaichi, then, Oikawa thought, eyeing the human warily. The vampire wasn't sure that Kindaichi would obey, but apparently these hunters put even more trust in Iwaizumi than Oikawa knew, because Kindaichi lowered his weapon. The shorter one, Kunimi, walked up to Iwaizumi, shot a glare at Oikawa, then reached up and gently tilted the hunter's head to get a better look at the wounds from Oikawa's fangs.

"Come to the infirmary," Kunimi said quietly. "I'll get you cleaned up."

"Thanks," Iwaizumi replied. "Oikawa, come with so I can make sure you don't cause any trouble," he added. The vampire hissed, baring his fangs at the hunters. "Oikawa." The vampire glared at him, but followed him farther into the house anyway. Kindaichi trailed after them, watching Oikawa suspiciously. "Kindaichi, check on Kyoutani, okay?" Kindaichi glared at Oikawa.

"If you hurt Iwaizumi or Kunimi, I will personally hunt you down and make you regret it," he threatened. Then he stormed off, and Kunimi led Iwaizumi and Oikawa into the room he usually treated the group's wounds in. Iwaizumi swayed, grimacing, and Kunimi steadied him and guided him to sit on one of several beds that lined the wall.

"You're dizzy from blood loss," Kunimi observed. "You shouldn't have sent Kindaichi away. He's worried, and helping would've made him feel better."

"Kindaichi is too new. I don't want him shooting the vampire yet. Besides, Oikawa will do whatever you need him to if you need help," Iwaizumi replied. Oikawa scowled and opened his mouth to object. "Do what he tells you," Iwaizumi snapped. Oikawa flinched as he felt the weight of the command settle over him. Fantastic. Now he had two humans giving him orders.

"Prop him up," Kunimi murmured. Oikawa blinked, then obeyed, steadying Iwaizumi as Kunimi retrieved a bowl of water and a towel, then started carefully cleaning the blood from the hunter's neck. Kunimi worked silently, rinsing the towel off every so often. Once the wounds were clean, Kunimi leaned close to get a better look and frowned. "I assume this vampire who's apparently obeying you is the one who attacked you?" he sighed.

"He's the one I ran into earlier today. It seems I accidentally made a blood contract with him," Iwaizumi replied.

"Useful," Kunimi commented, straightening and eyeing Oikawa before going to fetch a bandage for Iwaizumi's neck. "Of course, the price of a contracted vampire's obedience is high."

"I know. But it'll be worth it when we get Suga back," Iwaizumi replied. Oikawa decided that as long as he was stuck here, at the mercy of hunters, he might as well satisfy his curiosity.

"So what did your friend do to get kidnapped by a vampire? He wouldn't tell me," Oikawa said. Kunimi hesitated, his fingers hovering over the bandage now covering the wounds on Iwaizumi's neck.

"He was protecting me," Iwaizumi said quietly. Oikawa turned to study the hunter. He hadn't been expecting that. He hadn't been expecting a response at all, actually. "He and I were training, and we crossed into vampire territory. We would've been fine, but we got found by a patrol before we could cross back over the border. We were surrounded, and out of bullets. Suga pulled his knife and cut his own arm. Then he ran farther into vampire territory. The other vampires called the one who followed Suga 'Sawamura'," Iwaizumi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I left him there. That's why I have to get him back, even if I have to use a vampire to do it."

"Your friend will live longer if you leave him with Sawamura," Oikawa pointed out. "Humans who share a contract with vampires don't age, and Sawamura will probably protect him. If your friend goes back to you, not only will Sawamura be unable to feed until you give Yahaba back, but Sugawara will start aging again, and there won't be anything to protect him the next time he gets in a fight with a vampire." Iwaizumi scowled.

"Being a vampire's meal all the time is no life," the hunter snapped.

"And yet, you contracted me," Oikawa replied. "Anyway, even though I delivered your message, I don't think Sawamura's going to give up his human. Those two seemed pretty friendly, and Sawamura's the Border Commander. If you manage to fight your way into the barracks, you'll be facing the border vampires, and they're some of the best fighters there are. You'd never survive."

"Like you actually care," Iwaizumi snorted.

"As long as I'm stuck contracted to you, I have to make sure that if you die, you die in a way that won't leave me starving," Oikawa replied grimly. Iwaizumi shrugged.

"Once we get Suga back, I'll let that blood mage undo the contract. Until then, you're going to help me," the hunter said. Kunimi looked up.

"Are we changing plans? Should I not try to contact the border vampires?" he asked.

"No, still contact them. But don't mention Yahaba. Instead, tell them we've got Oikawa, and we'll trade him for Suga," Iwaizumi said. Oikawa tensed.

"Wait. You're planning to keep me here? For how long?" he demanded.

"Until we get Suga back," Iwaizumi replied. "I thought that was clear. Don't worry, I won't let you starve. I need you alive. Though I don't know for sure if you're important enough for them to trade for you."

"That's really not the issue here," Oikawa snapped. "Makki will get in trouble, and possibly the border vampires, too. You're going to ruin so many people's lives if you do this." For a moment, Iwaizumi was silent. Then he turned his head and met Oikawa's gaze.

"I know, and normally, I don't pick fights unless its with trespassing vampires, or ones who are hunting humans. But I made a mistake. I abandoned my friend. And I'm not going to leave him behind any longer," the hunter told him. "I'll do whatever it takes to make up for what I did, and hopefully, with you helping, we can get this done as cleanly as possible."

"What if I don't want to help you?" Oikawa snapped. Iwaizumi let out a low, humorless laugh, then leaned into Oikawa's space. Even though Oikawa knew he was taller than the human, he couldn't help but swallow nervously and lean away just the slightest bit.

"It doesn't matter. I told you I'd do whatever it takes, remember? If you're not valuable enough to the other vampires to trade, you'll still help me whether you like it or not, because I'll order you to, even if I have to make you walk my hunter group right into the barracks." It struck Oikawa then just how determined and fiercely loyal this human must be, and how much he must regret what had happened to his friend, for him to go to such lengths. Oikawa studied the hunter's face, and he couldn't help thinking that if this man had been born a vampire, maybe he and Oikawa could have met under better circumstances, maybe even been friends. Oikawa also came to the uncomfortable realization that Iwaizumi was rather attractive, which Oikawa really, really didn't need from a human that was threatening to order Oikawa to help him invade the vampires' territory and attack the border vampire barracks.

"Iwaizumi," Kunimi spoke up. "You should eat something, then go to bed. You need to heal from losing so much blood." Iwaizumi shifted away from Oikawa, then stood.

"All right. I'll keep the vampire with me. You should find Kindaichi and let him know everything is all right," Iwaizumi said. "And tell him I'm sorry for sending him off like that." Kunimi nodded, and Iwaizumi headed for the door. "Come on, Oikawa. I can get you settled in my room first, or you can stay with me while I get something to eat."

"Why would I be settled in your room?" Oikawa complained as he followed the human.

"Because there aren't any open rooms," Iwaizumi replied.

"Well, Sugawara isn't using his at the moment," Oikawa pointed out with a shrug. Before he realized what was happened, Iwaizumi had seized the front of his shirt and shoved him, pressing the vampire's back into the wall.

"I'm not putting a vampire in Suga's room. Especially not one as annoying as you," Iwaizumi snapped. "Now, you can either behave, and pick from the two options I already gave you, or you can keep being irritating, and I'll order you to sleep outside." Oikawa blinked down at him, processing the fact that Iwaizumi had managed to pin him to a wall for the second time that night. Even if Oikawa wasn't a fighter, this was just plain _wrong_. A human shouldn't be so strong or so fast, right? "Well?"

"You're such a brute," Oikawa sighed. "You could have just said 'no'." Iwaizumi's scowl darkened, and Oikawa added, "I'll behave, don't worry. Which way is your room? I don't want to sit and watch you eat."

"Of course you don't," Iwaizumi grumbled, releasing Oikawa. "This way." He turned and led the vampire to a bedroom down the hall from the infirmary. "Don't leave this room unless I say you can," he ordered. "And don't destroy anything!"

"Well, since you asked so nicely," Oikawa said lightly as he stepped into the room.

"Here. Put this on; your pants still have blood stains," Iwaizumi said, going to the closet and pulling out some comfortable-looking clothes. Oikawa took them silently, and Iwaizumi left. The door closed behind him, and Oikawa sighed. He changed like he'd been told, then sank to the floor and leaned back against the wall. No wonder Hanamaki hadn't liked it when Oikawa referred to Matsukawa as his master. The following-orders thing _sucked_. Oikawa grimaced, wondering if there was a way to get through this without anyone finding out Oikawa had been contracted. Probably not, since Iwaizumi would probably mention it when he was trying to convince the border vampires to trade Oikawa for Suga. Oikawa bit his lip.

He wasn't looking forward to what would happen when Iwaizumi demanded a human that was contracted to the Border Commander, one of the highest ranks a low-born vampire could earn, in exchange for a high-born vampire like Oikawa. There would probably be nightmare-worthy backlash no matter what happened, especially for Hanamaki, a low-born vampire assigned to protect Oikawa.

Oikawa froze, realizing that even if he managed to get through this without anyone knowing that a high-ranking vampire like himself had been contracted, Makki would be punished for losing Oikawa twice in the same day.

He shouldn't have come here alone. He shouldn't have avoided talking to Hanamaki. He should have asked Hanamaki and the border vampires for help.

"Damn it," he whispered, eyes burning as he pulled his knees up to his chest and dropped his forehead onto them.

Oikawa wasn't sure how long he sat there, wishing he could undo everything, wishing he'd never sneaked off to watch humans in the first place, wishing he'd done something, anything, differently. Eventually, though, the door opened, and Iwaizumi stepped into the room. The hunter didn't say anything, just changed into more comfortable clothing to sleep in, then walked over and crouched beside Oikawa, who was struggling to keep his composure, because it was bad enough that he was contracted to this hunter, bound to follow his orders, and trapped into helping him, and Oikawa _refused_ to cry in front of him.

"It won't be that bad," Iwaizumi murmured, reaching out and resting a hand gently on top of Oikawa's head. The vampire tensed. "Like I said earlier, I won't let you starve. I'm not going to let you drain all of my blood, but I'll feed you. I won't let any of my hunters hurt you. And once Suga's back, I'll let the blood mage go, and he can undo the contract." For a moment, Oikawa couldn't figure out why Iwaizumi was telling him this, so he lifted his head to stare at him questioningly. Iwaizumi's frown seemed gentle somehow as he added, "Come on. Let's get some sleep, okay? Everything will seem better in the morning." It dawned on him, then, what the human was doing.

He was comforting him. Iwaizumi was trying to comfort him.

Oikawa wasn't sure why, but that was the last straw.

Oikawa had trespassed, nearly gotten himself and Makki killed, been contracted, used as a messenger, failed to free himself from the contract, and was trapped, forced to follow this hunter's orders, and the human was _comforting him_. Oikawa felt tears prick at his eyes, and he squeezed them shut, trying to stop the tears from falling, but one escaped anyway. The hand on top of his head moved. Fingertips trailed down his cheek, then wiped away the escaped tear.

"I won't apologize, but for what it's worth, I really didn't mean to contract you or anything," Iwaizumi murmured. Oikawa didn't reply. "Come sleep on the bed. Being curled up on the floor like that can't be comfortable." Oikawa stood stiffly. He didn't know if he would have obeyed without the magic urging him to, and it really didn't matter at this point, did it? The vampire followed the human to the bed. Iwaizumi laid down on one side of the bed, and Oikawa hesitated as long as the contract magic would let him before he took the other side. For several long minutes, Oikawa lay stiffly, sure he would never fall asleep.

A gentle touch on the back of his head made him jump. But no pain followed the contact. Instead, gentle fingers carded softly through his hair. For a while, Oikawa was still tense, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The soft caresses continued, and eventually, Oikawa found his eyes fluttering shut and his breaths evening out.

If he hadn't fallen asleep, he might have been confused and slightly alarmed by just how relaxing it felt to have Iwaizumi stroking his hair as he drifted off.


	5. Meeting

Iwaizumi woke more slowly than usual, a warm, comfortable weight on his chest. The weight on his chest shifted, and a soft, content sound reached his ears. Iwaizumi opened one eye. The weight on his chest was a person with soft brown hair who was pressed close against Iwaizumi's side, head resting on his chest. He considered running his fingers through that fluffy brown hair, but reminded himself that this was a _vampire_ he had apparently ended up entangled with while they both slept. Iwaizumi tried to ease himself out from under Oikawa, but the vampire let out a quiet whine of protest and snuggled closer, nuzzling into Iwaizumi's chest.

 _It's not fair for a vampire to be this adorable,_ Iwaizumi thought to himself. Then he shook his head. No, this was not cute. No matter how fluffy his hair was, he was a vampire, and Oikawa was not cute. He wasn't.

Oikawa stirred and yawned, then froze in place, apparently only just waking up enough to realize that he was using the vampire hunter's chest as a pillow.

"Are you going to get off, or are you just going to keep sleeping on me?" Iwaizumi asked. Oikawa stiffened, then scrambled backwards and fell off the bed in his haste to put as much distances as possible between himself and the vampire hunter. Before either of them could say anything, there was a knock at the door.

"Iwaizumi? We arranged a meeting with the border vampires," Kunimi called. Iwaizumi got up and went to the door, opening it.

"When and where?" the hunter asked.

"Noon, at the border, where that old shed is. Sawamura agreed to bring Suga, on the condition that we bring Oikawa, and we agree to discuss both situations when we get there. Also, they want to bring an extra vampire, someone not from the border barracks," Kunimi said. "Apparently your vampire is a high-ranking noble, so they want him back as quickly as possible." Iwaizumi turned to look at Oikawa, who shrugged and got to his feet.

"You didn't tell me you were a high-born vampire," Iwaizumi commented.

"You didn't ask," Oikawa replied. "And don't call me _his_ vampire!"

"Is Watari rested up?" Iwaizumi asked, ignoring Oikawa.

"Yeah. Kindaichi is, too, and Kyoutani's sleeping now. Everyone will be ready soon," Kunimi replied.

"All right. I want everyone to meet in the kitchen when Kyoutani wakes up," Iwaizumi decided. Kunimi nodded, then turned to leave. "Kunimi. Good work." Kunimi glanced over his shoulder and smiled, then left.

\-----

Sawamura was waiting when the hunters arrived with Oikawa. Beside the Border Commander stood none other than Hanamaki and Matsukawa. A short distance behind them stood Suga, who was flanked by Hinata and an equally energetic border guard named Tanaka, who Oikawa had only met once before. Iwaizumi led the hunters forward, flanked by Kindaichi and a short hunter Oikawa had been introduced to that morning as Watari. Kyoutani, who seemed to be Iwaizumi's second in command, had stayed back far enough that the border vampires wouldn't notice him, because Kyoutani had been left in charge of Yahaba. Oikawa, who had been told to stay back, kept his eyes on the ground so he wouldn't have to look at the other vampires. He wasn't sure if he could take whatever anger or disappointment or pity they might be showing. Next to Oikawa, Kunimi frowned at the vampires.

"I half expected you to bring your whole garrison," Iwaizumi said. His attention was fixed on Sawamura, but Oikawa could tell from the tension in his shoulders that the hunter was forcing himself not to stare at his human friend.

"We're not here to fight," Sawamura replied. "We're here to make sure everyone gets back to where they want to be." Behind Sawamura, Hinata was practically vibrating with impatience. "May I make sure Oikawa is unharmed?" Iwaizumi nodded, and without waiting for the commander's approval, Hinata bolted across the distance between the two groups, darted between Iwaizumi and Kindaichi, and tackle-hugged Oikawa at full speed. Oikawa managed not to fall, unlike the last time he'd been enthusiastically greeted by Hinata. Instead, Oikawa just barely stayed on his feet, and he ruffled the shorter vampire's hair as he composed his expression. By the time Hinata looked up at Oikawa questioningly, Oikawa had a reassuring look on his face, though he wasn't sure what kind of expression he'd had on before.

"I'm fine," Oikawa said, pitching his voice so the others could hear. "You should go back over there before Sawamura scolds you."

"The commander was worried, too," Hinata replied, stepping back. "Even though Sugawara told him that the hunters wouldn't hurt you if they were planning to trade you." Oikawa huffed indignantly, but the energetic vampire just grinned. "Matsukawa had to order Hanamaki not to go after you," Hinata whispered conspiratorially. Oikawa blinked and looked up at his friend and assigned protector before he could think better of it.

"Switch?" Hanamaki said quietly. Sawamura and Iwaizumi both nodded. Hinata hugged Oikawa again, then scampered back to the vampires' side and took his position beside Suga once more. Hanamaki crossed the ground between the two groups, pausing to study Iwaizumi. The vampire's gaze caught on the bandage still wrapped around the hunter's neck, then shot to Oikawa, who bit his lip and looked away, which only confirmed his suspicions. Hanamaki growled and glared at Iwaizumi. "If you've given him any orders to make him to turn on his friends, or forced him to do anything, I will find away to make sure you regret ever being born." Without waiting for a reply, Hanamaki strode past Iwaizumi, completely ignored Kunimi, and pulled Oikawa into a tight hug. "You should've told me," he whispered. Oikawa tensed. "I would have helped you. You know I'm always up for whatever trouble you want to get into." Oikawa closed his eyes tightly and threw his arms around his friend.

"I'm sorry," Oikawa murmured. "I'm so sorry, Makki. Are you in trouble?"

"The higher ups don't even know you were wounded yesterday," Hanamaki replied under his breath. "You'll have to tell them eventually, because you know Sakusa will find out even if you don't, but we have time to get this sorted out, first." Oikawa's shoulders sagged with relief. Hanamaki wasn't in trouble yet. If everything went smoothly, maybe he never would be.

"All right," Iwaizumi said after a few more seconds of Oikawa and Hanamaki embracing. "So are we trading, or what?" Oikawa lifted his head just in time to see Sawamura turn and hold a hand out to Sugawara, who stepped forward and took it.

"I'm not going to give Koushi to you," the Border Commander replied. Iwaizumi tensed, and Kindaichi reached for his gun. "Not because I'm not willing to let him go, but because this should be Koushi's choice. Just like coming home or staying at your lair last night should have been Oikawa's choice."

"So you'll let him leave?" Iwaizumi questioned.

"If that's what he decides, yes," the vampire replied.

"But don't you have a contract?" Oikawa blurted out. "You'd starve in less than a month!" Even though he was fully aware of Iwaizumi's plan to let Yahaba undo the contracts, Sawamura didn't know that. Yet the vampire was willing to let the human his life depended on walk away if he wanted to?

"It's still Koushi's choice," Sawamura replied. His fingers tightened around Sugawara's hand, and the human smiled. Iwaizumi stared at them, something that might have been confusion or fear on his face.

"Suga," Iwaizumi said quietly. Sugawara gently pulled his hand from Sawamura's, then walked up to Iwaizumi.

"I'm all right," Suga assured him. "Daichi wouldn't hurt me." Iwaizumi's gaze fell pointedly to Suga's neck, where a bandage showed above the collar of his shirt. "Being bitten doesn't really hurt, and Daichi's always really gentle and never drinks enough to cause problems." Sugawara smiled brightly. "I'm sorry I didn't get a message to you, Iwaizumi. We could have avoided all of this."

"What are you saying?" Iwaizumi demanded.

"I'm saying that you didn't have to do this," Sugawara replied, his smile fading to a stern frown. "I'm fine, and everyone's been really great. I actually like living in the barracks. Someone has to help Daichi look after these idiots," he added, glancing over his shoulder. Hinata was watching intently, and Tanaka seemed to have gotten himself into a staring contest with Kindaichi, who was gripping his holstered gun nervously. Sawamura followed Suga's gaze to the two vampires and sighed.

"Tanaka, cut it out. And Hinata, remember not to let your attention narrow too much," the Border Commander said. The vampires under his command jumped guiltily. Suga laughed softly, then lowered his voice before continuing.

"You don't know everything that happened the day we ended up in vampire territory. When I led the vampires away from you, Daichi was the first one to catch up to me. I shot him twice, in the shoulder and the leg. When I went to finish him off, Hinata arrived. Before I could shoot him, Daichi managed to stand and put himself between us. He told Hinata to run, to go find the others and tell them to let me go back to the border. He told me it was fine if I killed him, as long as I left vampire territory without hurting any of his border guards. These vampires aren't that different from your hunters, Iwaizumi. Their leader would die to protect them, and they'd fight to their last breaths to return the favor. I can't just abandon Daichi, especially not when we have a contract now."

"You don't have to stay for him," Iwaizumi said, glancing pointedly at Sawamura. "Suga, there's a blood mage who can get rid of the contract. You can come home. I left you to the vampires once, and that's not a mistake I'm going to make again." Suga took a deep breath.

"Iwaizumi...you've been my friend for years. You taught me how to fight. But you also taught me what to fight for, and when not to fight. I led the vampires away because protecting you, protecting any of my friends, is worth fighting for with everything I have. I don't regret doing it, and I don't regret anything that's happened since. I stayed with Daichi because honestly, vampires and humans aren't so different, and even though I haven't spent very long with them, the barracks feels like home," he admitted. "And unlike Oikawa, Daichi chose to be contracted to me." Iwaizumi flinched at that.

"I didn't mean to make a contract with him," Iwaizumi grumbled.

"I know. I wasn't even sure there was a contract until I saw your neck," Suga replied soothingly. "And I know you went to a lot of trouble to rescue me. But I don't need rescuing. I would like it if we could keep in touch, though." Iwaizumi hesitated, glancing at his fellow hunters, who were watching the two of them silently. "Please, Iwaizumi. Just release Oikawa and have the blood mage undo his contract. We can meet up and hang out like before. You and the other hunters will keep protecting humans from trespassing vampires who might attack them, Oikawa will go back to being protected by Hanamaki, and Kunimi can stop wearing himself out using his magic to contact the vampires when you need to arrange a meeting."

Iwaizumi was silent, fingers curled into fists at his side, as he stared at his friend. He didn't want to leave him behind again. He _couldn't_ leave him behind again. But then...if it was Suga's choice, then what right did Iwaizumi have to keep trying to convince him to come back? Resigned, almost feeling defeated, Iwaizumi hung his head.

"All right. Kyoutani!" he called, raising his voice so the other hunter would hear him. A moment later, Kyoutani and Yahaba approached.

"Yahaba's alive?" Hanamaki exclaimed. The blood mage waved hesitantly, then, after shooting a glare at Kyoutani, he went straight to Oikawa.

"You're okay?" Oikawa asked, studying him. Yahaba nodded and lifted his hand, his fingertips resting on Oikawa's chest lightly.

"I've been better. Kyoutani is insufferable, and I've been stuck in a warded room, or I would have found a way to free you sooner," Yahaba replied.

"Let's get rid of this stupid contract so we can go home, then," Oikawa said. Yahaba nodded, then closed his eyes in concentration. Oikawa felt magic sweep through him, and Iwaizumi twitched, surprised by the tingling sensation. The feeling faded, but the weight of the contract remained. Yahaba frowned, and magic swept over them again.

"I don't understand," Yahaba muttered as, once again, the magic faded, and the contract remained in place.

"The magic looks right," Kunimi piped up. Several people, vampires and hunters alike, shot him surprised glances. "I may not be able to perform blood magic, but I know what it looks like. And that spell should work for undoing a contract between a human and a vampire."

"So it should be working now," Yahaba agreed. "I've used this before, and it's always worked."

"Then there's no reason for it not to work now," Kunimi murmured. "Unless..." Both mages froze, apparently realizing something very important at the same time.

"Unless it's not a contract between a vampire and a human," Yahaba whispered. Everyone turned to stare at Iwaizumi, who frowned.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded. "Don't look at me like that; I'm human!"

"Remove the bandage," Yahaba said. "I should be able to get enough of a sense from any dried blood on it." Kunimi nodded and approached Iwaizumi, pulling the bandage from his neck before the hunter could protest, then carrying it back to Yahaba. The blood mage closed his eyes again for a moment, then grimaced and opened them.

"I'm human," Iwaizumi repeated. Yahaba glanced at Oikawa, then Kunimi, then the other hunters, then the vampires, before finally meeting Iwaizumi's gaze and taking a deep breath.

"No, you're not. Your blood has a hint of something else in it. I haven't dealt with anything but vampire and human blood in a long time, so I'll have to do some research. Hopefully I'll be able to modify the spell and undo the contract once I figure out what it is," Yahaba said.

"Wait. You mean I'm not completely human?" Iwaizumi demanded.

"You mean you can't undo the contract, and I'm stuck with this brute?" Oikawa shrieked.


	6. Name

Yahaba sighed and eyed the human - or, mostly-human, apparently - and vampire, who were sporting nearly identical stunned and horrified expressions.

"I'll need to get in touch with some people," Yahaba mused. "Demons and werewolves are probably the most likely to crossbreed with humans, so we'll start there. I suppose dragons are a possibility, but it's really unlikely," he added thoughtfully. Kunimi nodded in agreement.

"You think I might be part demon?" Iwaizumi shook his head in disbelief.

"Or part werewolf, yeah. But since no one ever noticed any odd behaviors or anything before, it's not enough to really alter who or what you are. It's just enough to interfere with blood magic," Yahaba explained. Iwaizumi sighed. He needed time to think this over, and the others seemed to recognize that. "I'll get in touch with some demons and werewolves I know. I might have to go to them, or they might be willing to come here. I'll let you know." Iwaizumi nodded, then gathered his fellow hunters.

"What about Oikawa?" Hanamaki asked, voice laden with worry.

"Either I'll have to go all the way to the hunters' lair every other day, or I'll have to stay there," Oikawa said with a shudder. Kindaichi twitched. Iwaizumi grimaced.

"Iwaizumi," Suga said. Everyone's attention shifted to the pale-haired human. "I don't know Oikawa well, but I know you. Making sure Oikawa is safe and fed is part of your responsibility until the contract is dissolved." Oikawa squawked something indignantly about not needing a _human_ to look after him, but Suga ignored it. "Don't shoot him, okay?"

"Not even somewhere nonfatal?" Iwaizumi asked. Suga laughed and shook his head.

"No shooting," he repeated firmly.

"Okay, okay. I promise I won't shoot him - or let anyone else shoot him," Iwaizumi added when Suga opened his mouth again.

"We'll help Hanamaki cover for you," Sawamura added, nodding to Oikawa. "So whether you just go to the humans to feed or stay with them until this contract thing is over is up to you."

"As long as you're safe, that's what matters," Hanamaki added when Oikawa glanced at him worriedly. "And if you need to talk, just say so, okay? Don't bottle things up." Oikawa made a face at him, and Hanamaki laughed. That just left...Iwaizumi. Oikawa turned to him and studied him thoughtfully. The hunter just shrugged, so Oikawa took that as agreement that this was his decision.

"I'll try staying with the hunters," Oikawa decided. "But I reserve the right to change my mind."

\-----

Iwaizumi waited until he was in his room, after making sure his people were ready for the evening's patrols, and reluctantly telling Oikawa he could stay in Suga's room, before he sat on his bed and dropped his head into his hands. He'd messed up. He had told himself that as long as he got Suga back, everything would be okay. As long as everything worked out, it would be fine. But it wasn't. He had contracted a vampire, and he couldn't even nullify the contract. Oikawa was stuck feeding from him, which meant either living with the hunters or visiting every few days. Oikawa hadn't decided which he would go with for sure yet. Either way, Iwaizumi dreaded seeing the vampire again. He hadn't needed to shoot him in the first place. Oikawa and Hanamaki had been leaving, and they hadn't even attacked any humans. Iwaizumi could have let them go. But he had thought using them would bring Suga back. He hadn't counted on Suga being happy where he was, but he should have. Suga was good with people, and just plain good. He was fierce too, and Iwaizumi should have known that his friend would have gotten back on his own if he wanted to. He should have known that getting rid of the contract between himself and Oikawa wouldn't be so easy. Iwaizumi groaned and twisted his fingers in his hair.

"Ah, I thought you might be in here, but I didn't think you were the moping type," Oikawa chirped as he walked into the room. Iwaizumi lifted his head and glared at the vampire.

"What do you want?" Iwaizumi growled. He wasn't going to shoot the vampire, but that didn't mean he appreciated Oikawa just waltzing in like he owned the place.

"I just thought I should tell you that Yahaba wants a human guard when he meets with the people he's trying to match your blood with. He thought you and your hunter group would do nicely." Oikawa shrugged. "Not everyone, of course. Just you and me and your 'attack dog', as Yahaba called him. I'm sure you want the others to stay and handle patrols. Hanamaki and Matsukawa will be covering for me if you decide to accept, so don't worry on my account," he added.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to."

"You're so rude. Anyway, I also thought that since we'll be together so much until one of us dies or until Yahaba figures out his spell, I need something to call you," Oikawa announced cheerfully.

"Call me my name," Iwaizumi growled.

"But everyone calls you Iwaizumi. It's such a mouthful, and you and I have a special bond, so I should get to call you something else," Oikawa replied.

"Having a contract doesn't mean you get to call me by my given name," Iwaizumi snapped.

"Well I meant the fact that I'm a vampire and you're not fully human, but yeah, the contract is a pretty significant bond, too," Oikawa mused. Iwaizumi couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"I'm not telling you my given name. And if you find it out, I'll order you not to call me that," Iwaizumi told him.

"Then I'll call you Iwa-chan!" Oikawa replied cheerfully. "Much shorter, and maybe calling you by a cute name will make you less brutish!" Iwaizumi felt his eyebrow twitch, and he opened his mouth to order Oikawa to never, ever call him that again, but then he sighed and closed his mouth without saying anything. What harm would it do? Besides, the only thing Oikawa had done wrong was trespassing. He hadn't attacked anyone except Iwaizumi, and that was because Iwaizumi had contracted the vampire against his will. Oikawa was probably just trying to make the best of a situation he hadn't wanted to be in.

Little did Iwaizumi know, that was exactly what the vampire was doing.

After all, Oikawa thought to himself as he realized Iwaizumi wasn't going to ban the new nickname, if Oikawa was going to be stuck obeying this not-quite-human, he was going to get some fun out of it. He just had to decide what exactly he wanted to do to Iwaizumi.

The evening's patrols went by without incident, and Iwaizumi climbed into his bed after ordering Oikawa not to cause any trouble for the other hunters. What Iwaizumi forgot to do was tell Oikawa to stay in Suga's room where he was supposed to be.

In Suga's room, Oikawa tossed and turned. He had never really been a fan of sleeping in strange places, and he couldn't get comfortable in this human's bed. He wondered idly if Iwaizumi was still awake, then pushed the thought away. There was a draft in the room, Oikawa noticed, or maybe that was just his imagination as he remembered how cozy and comfortable using Iwaizumi as a pillow the night before had been. Oikawa pushed that thought away, too.

He was a vampire. A noble. He didn't like the human he was contracted to; Iwaizumi was stubborn and thought he was annoying and would be just as happy as Oikawa was when the contract was dissolved and they didn't have to see each other anymore.

Oikawa wondered idly what Iwaizumi's blood would taste like when Oikawa wasn't in agony or in a rush.

Thinking things like this wouldn't help him get to sleep, Oikawa knew, but similar thoughts plagued him. Was Iwaizumi's strength due to whatever non-human thing his blood was mixed with? Oikawa knew the hunter's arms were well muscled; he'd been pinned by them enough to notice. But with how surprisingly comfortable the hunter's chest had been, was the rest of his body so toned? That really, really wasn't going to help him get to sleep. He tried to remember how he'd gotten to sleep in a strange place before.

Oh, yeah. Iwaizumi's fingers in his hair had lulled him into relaxing enough to fall asleep.

 _If I go to his room tonight, will he do that again?_ Oikawa wondered. He also regretted having chosen to stay with the humans. Because if he were at home, he could sneak over to Hanamaki and Matsukawa's place, and they would tease him until he stopped thinking about the hunter he was contracted to. Instead, he was left here, alone with his thoughts and the knowledge that Iwaizumi was probably asleep in his room a few doors down, where Oikawa could go and climb into bed with him, and as long as he didn't wake Iwaizumi up, he wouldn't be ordered away.

Finally, Oikawa had to resign himself to an unfortunate realization: either he wasn't going to get any sleep, or he would have to let his pride take a hit and go crawl into bed with a human. Not-human. Whatever.

Oikawa sighed and slid out of bed.

Iwaizumi woke up with an armful of sleepy, clingy vampire for the second day in a row, and wondered why it was that the vampire he had accidentally contracted had to be the strangest, whiniest, most annoying, and - unfortunately - most unfairly attractive vampire in existence. Iwaizumi promptly recognized that last thought as one he really didn't want to have and sat up, then shoved Oikawa off the bed.

"Iwa-chan, you're so violent!" Oikawa complained. Then, deciding that this was how he was going to entertain himself while he waited for Yahaba to figure out the whole dissolving the contract thing, he climbed right back onto Iwaizumi's bed and flopped onto his lap. "When you wake up next to someone, you're supposed to be nice and let them sleep on you as long as they want." Iwaizumi scowled.

"Absolutely not," he snapped, pushing Oikawa off of his lap. The vampire gave the hunter his best pout, complete with wide, heartbroken eyes, and tilted his head forward sadly. He had no idea if it would work on Iwaizumi the way it worked on other vampires - Oikawa couldn't fight, but he was known for getting his way through charm and manipulation - but it was worth a try. There was a long moment of silence. Then Iwaizumi wordlessly flopped back onto the bed. Oikawa smirked, because apparently he could get his way with Iwaizumi once in a while, which was very, very useful to know, especially if it was going to take Yahaba a long time to sort the magic stuff out, and curled around Iwaizumi's side, resting his head on the hunter's chest. After a few seconds, Iwaizumi sighed and wrapped one arm around Oikawa's back, lifting his other hand to trail his fingers through the vampire's unfairly fluffy hair.

"Are you petting me, Iwa-chan?" Oikawa teased, although he wasn't able to keep how pleased he was completely out of his voice. It wasn't fair how easily Iwaizumi seemed to be able to calm him by playing with his hair. It had to be some power the hunter had, probably due to his mixed blood. Or maybe it was a contract thing. Oikawa remembered Hanamaki mentioning once that, while being touched by Matsukawa had been nice before they decided to form a contract, everything was even better after the magic bound them together.

"I am not," Iwaizumi growled, his fingers pausing in Oikawa's hair.

"Didn't say it was a bad thing," Oikawa muttered. "It means you're good for something besides food." Iwaizumi lifted his hand, flicked Oikawa's forehead, then went back to stroking his hair before the vampire could even yelp indignantly.

"Shut up before I push you off the bed again," Iwaizumi threatened. Oikawa grinned.

"But if you did that, you wouldn't get to pet my hair anymore," the vampire teased. Iwaizumi didn't answer, and Oikawa realized two very important things.

One, he was enjoying their light banter, more than he thought he would.

And two, Iwaizumi's words hadn't settled over him and forced him to stop talking.

Oikawa decided to keep careful note of just when and how heavily Iwaizumi's words settled over him and weighed him down with commands. He also decided that he would keep teasing the hunter, and possibly encourage more physical contact, because whether it was a mixed-blood thing or a contract thing or - heaven help him - an Iwaizumi thing, Oikawa really liked being close to the hunter.

Which was completely different from liking the hunter. Because he didn't like Iwaizumi. At all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really should be working on my Mages and Familiars AU,so this is probably all this story is getting today.  
> Please keep leaving me comments!!! I love comments, and they make me write more!  
> Also, you should all totally check out my other Haikyuu AU if you haven't already.


	7. Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case the chapter title wasn't enough warning, please prepare for this to not be a happy chapter.  
> I apologize ahead of time.  
> You might notice I've bumped the rating to M and added a violence warning. There's a reason.  
> Also, this chapter is longer than usual, so yeah.

Yahaba arrived with news by the time Iwaizumi had managed to get himself and his fellow hunters fed and ready for the day.

"There are some demons that will be passing through in a day or two one their way to see Kuroo," Yahaba announced without preamble. Oikawa's eyes widened.

"Bokuto's coming back?" he asked. Yahaba nodded, and Oikawa grimaced. "Whenever he visits, Kuroo causes more trouble than usual. I wish Kuroo would go visit Bokuto's home once in a while, cause trouble over in the demons' territory."

"You know he can't really cross the border very often," Yahaba pointed out.

"Who's Kuroo?" Iwaizumi asked. Yahaba hesitated, and Oikawa shrugged.

"Kuroo is a high-born vampire, like me," Oikawa explained. "He ranks above me, though."

"Oikawa's rank is just above the middle for high-borns," Yahaba added. "He's well known, and can attend the various events the nobles organize, and the annual meeting to make decisions about how the vampire territory is going to be run for the year. That's why Hanamaki is assigned to protect him. But there are some vampires, like Kuroo, who rank higher. Kuroo governs an area at the southeastern edge of the vampire territory, and he has multiple lower-ranked vampires assigned to protect him. He can only afford to leave his area unattended for official business, so he doesn't get out much. He's got a lot of contacts in other species, though." Kyoutani, who had been in the process of cleaning his gun, was eyeing Yahaba with something that could have been confusion. Or irritation at his presence. It was hard to tell.

"Iwaizumi, we're heading out to the market. Kunimi needs more of that nasty-smelling painkiller, and Watari and I need to get more ammunition," Kindaichi said. Iwaizumi nodded and glanced at Kyoutani, who reassembled his weapon in record time.

"Great. As interesting as this talk about vampire politics has been, Kyoutani and I are on day patrol," Iwaizumi said. Instead of heading for the door, Yahaba grinned and stepped toward them.

"Really? Can I come? If I can observe you while you're patrolling, I might be able to figure out what your blood is mixed with before the demons even get here!" the blood mage said cheerfully. Iwaizumi hesitated, then shrugged.

"Fine. But stick close to Kyoutani, okay?" the hunter said. Yahaba turned to Kyoutani and gave him a sweet, innocent smile. Kyoutani frowned.

"Can't he stick with you?" Kyoutani asked, looking at Iwaizumi hopefully.

"Oikawa's coming with, too, so I'm going to be keeping an eye on him," Iwaizumi replied. Kyoutani huffed and glared at Oikawa, who was blinking at Iwaizumi in surprise.

"I am?"

"I'm not leaving you here unattended. So yeah, you're coming," Iwaizumi said. Oikawa considered objecting, but decided against it.

"How mean, Iwa-chan. You didn't even ask if I wanted to go," the vampire pouted. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, checked his weapon, then walked out. Kyoutani and Yahaba were staring at Oikawa, Yahaba in disbelief and Kyoutani with what might have been something like horror.

"Come on," he called over his shoulder. "We need to get moving."

It was only a few minutes into the patrol when Oikawa noticed a faint scent wafting through the air. It was thick and tangy, a distinctive citrus scent that Oikawa recognized immediately. He had never questioned why vampire blood smelled like citrus to him, and he didn't stop to consider why he was smelling it now, deep in human territory. Instead, he turned in the direction of the scent and started moving towards it. If he had stopped to glance over his shoulder, he would have seen Yahaba and Kyoutani arguing - they'd been debating which was the better mid-range projectile weapon, arrows or throwing knives, which Oikawa might have been amused by considering Kyoutani carried a gun - and Iwaizumi scanning the crowds, watching for anyone who behaved suspiciously enough that it might indicate a trespassing vampire. By the time Iwaizumi looked around for Oikawa, the vampire was running through the town, following the scent of vampire blood.

There was an injured vampire in human territory, and Oikawa wanted to find them first and help them get back across the border if he could before the hunters found them. The scent led him to a house set away from the surrounding buildings, and he slipped in through the unlocked front door. As soon as he stepped into the house's living room, the citrus-tart scent of vampire blood swamped him, and he had to brace himself against the wall as he struggled to block the smell out. He lifted his gaze and scanned the room. There, against the far wall, lay a vampire. He was covered in blood - his own, from the look of the numerous wounds on his arms - and his eyes looked glazed over from pain. The vampire, whose dazed blue eyes seemed oddly familiar, whimpered. Oikawa heard a soft murmur that might have been intended to comfort the injured vampire, but he tensed, fingers tightening around a knife Oikawa hadn't realized the other vampire was holding. The hand holding the knife shifted, brought the tip of the blade to rest against the vampire's thigh, then pressed down. The vampire on the floor cried out, voice hoarse and breaking, but he kept pushing the knife deeper into his own flesh.

"What are you doing?" Oikawa shouted, lunging forward instinctively. He crossed the room so fast that he didn't have time to look around for the source of the voice he'd heard and reached for the knife with one hand.

There was a loud crack and a flash of pain from Oikawa's hand before his fingers even brushed the knife's hilt. Oikawa yelled wordlessly and jerked his hand back. He'd been shot, he realized distantly. The other vampire twitched, a high whine escaping his lips as the bullet, which had passed through Oikawa's hand completely, lodged itself in the other vampire's arm. Oikawa whirled, straightening, to face the shooter. He had just enough time to register that it was a human holding the gun before said gun went off again, and agony erupted in Oikawa's hip. He fell against the wall and slid down, mouth open in a silent scream.

"Well, well, aren't you a pretty one?" an unfamiliar voice observed. The man who had shot him - twice - walked forward and crouched over him. "Don't worry, I won't let you bleed out. I want you alive." Oikawa bit his lip, trying to suppress the whimpers that threatened to escape his throat. White-hot pain lanced through his body, and his fangs drew blood from his own lip as he tried and failed not to scream. The human chuckled and holstered his gun, then plucked the knife from the other vampire's thigh and wiped it clean on his own shirt. "Shh, it's okay. I'll help you," the human cooed. Oikawa shuddered, but that only sent another wave of pain through him, and he missed the human's next action, but he could smell the result. The sweet, metallic scent of human blood reached him. "I'm so glad you bit your lip like that. It makes this much easier." The human's hand lifted toward Oikawa's face. He could taste his own blood in his mouth from his fangs tearing his lip, and the human's palm was bleeding. Realization reached Oikawa distantly, having to push through the agonized fog that was threatening to overwhelm him.

This human was trying to contract him. He'd probably contracted the other vampire, which would explain why the other vampire had been stabbing himself in the leg; the human had probably ordered him to.

But Oikawa was already contracted. He tried to turn his head away, to clamp his mouth shut. The human's uninjured hand pressed against the wound on Oikawa's hip. He screamed, and the human pressed his hand against Oikawa's mouth. Blood, human blood, which wasn't Iwaizumi's, flowed over his tongue, mixing with his own blood and trickling down his throat.

Oikawa screamed again, this time because the pain of being shot twice paled in comparison to the way that blood burned as it trickled down. Oikawa's body convulsed, and his scream was suddenly pitched higher, because it felt like liquid fire was racing through his body. His mouth, his throat, his stomach, all felt like they were being burned away as the magic already in him, his contract to Iwaizumi, rejected the new human's blood, reminding him that he already belonged to someone, that he could only feed from that one person. The human pulled back, confused, as Oikawa writhed, his screams separated by choked sobs.

He couldn't move. He couldn't even see what the human was doing. He had no way to contact Iwaizumi, whose blood would heal him, or Yahaba, who would defend him. He couldn't do anything to protect himself.

Oikawa could only scream, and cry, and hope that this new human would end his pain.

\-----

"Where's Oikawa?" Yahaba asked, breaking off his argument with Kyoutani. Iwaizumi scowled.

"He probably wandered off," Iwaizumi sighed. "Let's find him before he gets into trouble."

"You should've ordered him not to wander off," Kyoutani grumbled.

"You can't just solve every issue you have with Oikawa through orders," Yahaba snapped. "He's a person, and he's trapped depending on someone who would probably happily kill him. Anyway, if he wandered off, he's got a good reason."

"Like what?" Kyoutani snapped. "He trespassed just because he wanted to watch humans, remember?"

"Shut up," Yahaba replied, closing his eyes an concentrating. It was easiest to sense blood when it wasn't inside people, but if he was familiar enough with the species involved, he could usually tell them apart. Which was part of why Iwaizumi having just enough mixed blood to interfere with his magic was so damned annoying. But more important right now was trying to sense any vampire blood in the area.

"Or what?" Kyoutani grumbled.

Unfortunately, Yahaba realized as he tuned Kyoutani out, now that he was paying attention, and actually looking for it, he could sense a lot of vampire blood - spilled vampire blood - nearby.

"Oikawa's in trouble," Yahaba said. Then he bolted, sprinting in the direction of the blood. Iwaizumi ran after him, and Kyoutani sighed before following.

When they reached the house where the vampire blood was, Iwaizumi approached first, Yahaba behind him and Kyoutani bringing up the rear. Iwaizumi noted that the door was open, and when he stepped inside, the first thing he was was a man crouched over Oikawa and what looked like another vampire, who both lay on the floor, whimpering. Iwaizumi scowled and started forward, but froze when he heard the man speak.

"I wonder why it didn't work," the man murmured, reaching out and brushing his fingers through Oikawa's hair, which was tangled and caked in blood in patches. Iwaizumi wanted to storm over and shove the man away from Oikawa - was that Oikawa's blood? How badly was he hurt? - but he held himself in check, because he recognized that voice.

"Suguru," Iwaizumi snapped. "What do you think you're doing?" The man, a vampire hunter Iwaizumi had encountered before, turned and smirked at the trio standing behind him.

"I'm punishing these vampires for trespassing, of course," he replied, standing. "What can I do for you?"

"Iwaizumi," Yahaba whispered, horrified gaze fixed on the two vampires on the floor. "They're both in really, really bad shape. And the one beside Oikawa is contracted to that guy. I need to get to them."

"Relax. I'll heal them up and send them back over the border soon," Suguru said, shrugging.

"You can't heal Oikawa. He already has a contract," Yahaba snapped.

"So that's why the pretty one started screaming even louder when I tried to make him drink," Suguru realized. "That makes sense. Who is he contracted to?" Iwaizumi stepped forward.

"Me." Suguru's expression shifted from a polite smile to a delighted grin that bordered on a slimy smirk. His posture shifted, too, from someone trying to reassure others that he wasn't doing anything wrong to someone who thought he'd found another person who acted and thought like he did.

"Iwaizumi! I always thought you were one of those hunters that just killed trespassers or drove them off, and then left it at that," he exclaimed. "I never thought you'd want to keep one to play with. I guess I'll have to let you take the pretty one back. It would be a shame to let him die." Yahaba bristled at the tone of the hunter's voice.

"Oikawa isn't a toy! And neither is the poor vampire you contracted! They're people!" the blood mage snapped. Iwaizumi walked forward, and Suguru stepped aside.

"You'll have to let me play with him again sometime," Suguru commented, apparently no longer hiding behind the excuse of punishing the vampires, as Iwaizumi crouched beside Oikawa, surveying the vampire's wounds.

"This is your idea of playing?" Iwaizumi said quietly, his fingertips carefully brushing some of Oikawa's sweat and blood dampened hair away from his face. The vampire flinched at the touch, a cry of utter terror leaving his lips. His gaze was wide and terrified, and he gazed up at Iwaizumi without a hint of recognition. "Yahaba." Guessing what Iwaizumi was suggesting, Yahaba walked over and knelt on the bloody floor, resting his hands gingerly on the second vampire's chest. A moment later, he turned to Iwaizumi.

"Done," the blood mage announced.

"Good," Iwaizumi said grimly. He unholstered his gun, shifted, aimed, and shot Suguru twice in the chest before the other hunter could realize what was happening. Suguru let out a grunt of surprise, then collapsed before the pain even registered. Kyoutani shouted in surprise, and Yahaba shot Iwaizumi an approving look before returning his attention to the mystery vampire.

"Kyoutani, get over here. This vampire needs blood immediately," Yahaba told him. Kyoutani opened his mouth to protest, but Yahaba just talked right over him. "I don't give a damn what you think of vampires right now. I can't do it, because mage blood is bad for injured vampires. Too much magic. So if you could be so kind as to _get your ass over here_..." Kyoutani walked over and crouched hesitantly beside Yahaba, who grabbed Kyoutani's knife out of its sheath, seized the hunter's arm, and was about to make a cut when Kyoutani yelped and snatched the knife back.

"I can do it myself," he growled, carefully cutting his own arm and then holding it to the vampire's mouth. Yahaba reached over and gently tilted the vampire's head back, opening his mouth so Kyoutani's blood could drip in. The vampire, who was barely conscious, swallowed instinctively. "This isn't going to make him follow me around, is it?"

"No. You didn't mix his blood with yours," Yahaba replied. "And if a contract did form on accident, I could dissolve it, unless you secretly have mixed blood like Iwaizumi." Kyoutani huffed, but didn't say anything else as the vampire slowly seemed to become more aware.

"You're safe now," Yahaba murmured when he was sure the vampire could hear him. "What's your name?" Kyoutani pulled his arm away so the vampire could answer.

"I'm Kageyama Tobio," the vampire answered, voice faint and rough, probably from screaming. Yahaba blinked in surprise.

"Kageyama? We thought Iwaizumi's group killed you," Yahaba whispered. "You went missing before I did. Have you been here the whole time?" The vampire nodded, his lower lip trembling. "We have to get him home."

"We have a bigger problem first," Iwaizumi said grimly. Yahaba looked over, expecting for Oikawa to be feeding from Iwaizumi to heal, and instead, found Oikawa cringing away from the hunter, curling up into a ball and letting out little whimpers. Iwaizumi sighed. "He's got a bullet lodged in his hip. I have to get it out, or the wound will heal around it." Yahaba nodded his understanding, and Iwaizumi pulled out his knife. He rested a hand on the vampire's side to brace him, and Oikawa yelped and flinched away as best he could while still plagued by burning pain from his wounds and Suguru's blood. "Relax. I just need to get the bullet out." As soon as Iwaizumi said the word 'relax', Oikawa's body went limp, and his eyes flew wide, his expression nothing short of panic. Yahaba started to object, but Iwaizumi was right. They needed to get the bullet out. "Don't move, okay?" the hunter murmured. Then he started digging the bullet out. Oikawa screamed as the knife bit into his wound, but not one muscle in his body so much as twitched. Iwaizumi paused, then realized Oikawa was keeping still and continued. By the time Iwaizumi triumphantly dropped the bullet to the floor, Oikawa was no longer screaming. Instead, he was babbling something under his breath. Iwaizumi and Yahaba exchanged worried looks. "What's wrong? Speak up, I can't hear you," Iwaizumi urged, leaning over the vampire. Oikawa flinched back, but his volume increased, and Yahaba paled as he realized what Oikawa was saying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't wander off again, I'll do whatever you tell me, please don't hurt me, I'm sorry-"

"What the hell?" Iwaizumi stared at Oikawa. "He was only gone for a few minutes, right? What happened?" Yahaba wasn't sure how to answer, so he just reached out, took Iwaizumi's shoulder, and turned the hunter so he was looking at Kageyama. Iwaizumi looked from the vampire to the blood mage, confused. Yahaba sighed, figuring out where to start.

"Kageyama, tell Iwaizumi about your contract with Suguru," Yahaba suggested. Kageyama hesitated. "It's okay. The contract is gone, and he's dead." Kageyama glanced at the hunter that had contracted him, seeming to gain a little strength from seeing the limp form. "It might help us figure out how to help Oikawa." That was what did it.

"Sometimes he hurt me. Sometimes he made me hurt myself. But he kept healing me," the vampire whispered. "He wouldn't let me go, and he wouldn't let me die. I had to keep following his orders, no matter what he told me to do." Tears gathered in his blue eyes, and the vampire hunched his shoulders defensively, looking away from Iwaizumi and Kyoutani, who were both staring in horror at him.

"Hanamaki and Sawamura are special cases," Yahaba explained quietly. "They consented to their contracts, and they're with humans that they trust not to abuse the power their contracts give. Kageyama didn't have that. Suguru probably ambushed him, wounded him so he couldn't get away, then forced him into a contract." Kageyama nodded, and Yahaba continued, "Doesn't that situation sound familiar?" Iwaizumi and Kyoutani turned their horrified gazes to Oikawa, who was still curled up, whimpering, although the babbling had stopped.

"He didn't know what he was doing," Kyoutani growled, glancing at Iwaizumi.

"I knew what it meant after I found out about the contract," Iwaizumi replied, his words faint with horror. "I...When he attacked me, trying to get out of the contract, I ordered him to stop, and he did. I kept him from causing trouble by telling him not to. I knew he didn't have a choice. But I never thought..."

"You seriously never realized that you could tell him to do literally anything and he'd do it?" Yahaba snapped. "He doesn't just want out of the damned contract because he'll starve if he doesn't feed from you. He wants out because you ripped away his free will, and even though you promised not to shoot him, you could kill him a hundred different ways just by telling him what to do! Or you could do to him what that bastard did to Kageyama!"

"I wouldn't-"

"Are you sure? You wouldn't tell him not to drink your blood?" Yahaba interrupted. Kyoutani stepped forward, but Yahaba rounded on him. "Don't you even defend this. I thought it was bad enough that you were planning to use Oikawa to get your friend back, but you didn't just put your feelings and situation before his, none of you even considered his feelings and situation at all!" Yahaba whirled back to Iwaizumi. "I didn't say anything when Oikawa chose to stay with you instead of just going to you to feed, but that was a mistake. I should have made sure you knew just what you've done to him." Iwaizumi couldn't meet Yahaba's eyes. Instead, he turned back to Oikawa.

"I'm going to heal him, then take him back to my group's base," Iwaizumi said quietly. "Kyoutani, help Yahaba get that other vampire somewhere safe. It can be the base, or vampire territory. Either way is fine." Kyoutani started to protest, but Yahaba spoke before he could.

"What are you going to do with him?" the blood mage demanded. Iwaizumi sighed heavily.

"I have to get him to drink. Otherwise he's going to bleed out," the hunter answered. He wiped the knife clean - the way he should've done the first time he met Oikawa, a nagging voice at the back of his head told him - and then cut his own arm. Oikawa tensed, nostrils flaring as he smelled Iwaizumi's blood. Yahaba hesitated, then turned to Kyoutani.

"Let's go." Kyoutani didn't object. Instead, he carefully picked Kageyama up, since the vampire was still too weak to move much, then followed Yahaba out of the house. Iwaizumi waited until they were gone before he spoke.

"Oikawa, can you listen to me?" Iwaizumi asked, forcing his voice to be as steady as possible. The vampire didn't move, but his eyes were darting between Iwaizumi's face and the wound on his arm, where blood welled up and was starting to trickle over his skin. "I'm not mad at you for running off, I promise. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to get some blood in you so you can start to heal, okay?" He tried to stay calm, to keep his tone soothing, because Oikawa was staring at him like a terrified, wounded animal, and Iwaizumi didn't want to scare him more. But his voice wavered as he added, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Oikawa. I wasn't thinking about what would happen to you when I accidentally contracted you. And I know that it being an accident is no excuse. I'm a vampire hunter. I should know better. But I didn't think about you then, and I haven't really been thinking about what you've been going through since then. Even when you were upset the night I kept you at the base, I was focused on everyone but you. I'm so sorry for that, and I know I can never make it better, but I just want you to know that until Yahaba figures out how to get rid of this contract between us, I'm going to try to make up for what I've done, even though I know it'll never be enough. I haven't been thinking about your feelings, but I'm going to put you first from now on, I swear. I'll do whatever it takes to help you get through this. So please let me heal you. I'm not ordering you to drink, but please, please let me help you now." Iwaizumi fell silent, staring at Oikawa helplessly as the vampire stared back. Iwaizumi waited, bleeding arm outstretched, as Oikawa seemed to process what he'd said, evaluating his words.

After what felt like an eternity, Oikawa lifted his head and parted his lips. Hesitantly, afraid he was misinterpreting Oikawa's actions, Iwaizumi leaned forward and shifted his arm until the cut was so close that the hunter's skin almost touched the vampire's lips. Oikawa tilted his head, latched onto the cut, and drank.


	8. History

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Keffy19, who pointed out some gaps in my worldbuilding. Here's the answer to some of what you wanted to know!

"Iwaizumi, you have a visitor," Kindaichi announced. Iwaizumi, who had just returned from a patrol, tensed. The faint ache in his chest that had lingered for the last two days hadn't faded, but he couldn't help the hope that spiked in him.

"Oikawa?" he asked. Kindaichi shook his head, and Iwaizumi sighed. It had been two days since he'd taken Oikawa and Yahaba on patrol, and as soon as the vampire had gotten enough blood in him to walk on his own, he'd left. Iwaizumi had been tempted to stop him, but the only way to do that would be to give him an order, and Iwaizumi had told himself he wouldn't force Oikawa to do anything anymore. So he'd let the vampire go, and he hadn't seen him since. Iwaizumi sighed. "All right. Where?"

"Out back," Kindaichi answered. "It's Yahaba, and he brought friends." Iwaizumi frowned, then went out the back door and found Yahaba and Kyoutani arguing about something. It sounded almost like they were arguing over what kind of bread tasted better. Iwaizumi shook his head and glanced at the third person, who had sharp golden eyes and odd white hair with black streaks in it.

"So you're the famous Iwaizumi," the stranger commented. Kyoutani and Yahaba stopped arguing and nodded to Iwaizumi.

"Iwaizumi, this is Bokuto Koutarou, a demon. He's the friend of Kuroo's that we were talking about the other day," Yahaba announced. Iwaizumi held out a hand, and Bokuto grinned and shook it.

"You're the one who's not human, huh? I thought you'd be taller," Bokuto said cheerfully. Iwaizumi eyed the demon warily. Was the friendliness a trick somehow?

"He's always like that. At least, he is when he's happy," murmured a person who Iwaizumi was pretty sure hadn't actually been there a second ago. "I'm Akaashi Keiji, also a demon." Iwaizumi had to pry his fingers away from his gun, because he'd instinctively reached for it at Akaashi's sudden appearance.

"Nice to meet you," the hunter said as calmly as he could. A slight smirk pulled at the demon's lips.

"All I need is a blood sample. Are you okay to give me a little fresh blood to work with?" Yahaba asked. Iwaizumi's frown deepened.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, unsheathing his knife.

"Well, Oikawa said he was going to feed today," Yahaba replied slowly. Iwaizumi paused, knife blade resting against his skin.

"He hasn't been here since he left two days ago. I've been expecting him, since he's supposed to feed every other day, but I haven't seen him," he said. "He said he was coming to feed?"

"Yeah. Hanamaki said he left this morning, and he assumed things were going well since Oikawa hadn't come back yet," the blood mage sighed. "I'll find him. Or Hanamaki will. For now, let's see if you're part demon." Iwaizumi nodded and pricked the inside of his wrist. Yahaba stepped forward and gripped his wrist, swiping his thumb through the blood before stepping back. "Now, Bokuto?" The golden-eyed demon held up his own arm, flexing his fingers, which suddenly morphed into claws. Iwaizumi tensed and stepped back.

"You didn't think demons naturally looked like this, did you?" Akaashi murmured. Iwaizumi scowled, and Kindaichi and Kyoutani stepped back warily, eyeing the demons.

"Our real forms are way cooler!" Bokuto told them excitedly. "Want to see?"

"No!" the hunters chorused. Bokuto pouted, then shrugged and brought his claws to his forearm. Inky black blood welled up, and Yahaba reached out to swipe a drop of blood onto his finger. After a moment, he shook his head and wiped his hand on Kyoutani's shirt.

"What the hell?" Kyoutani shouted, glaring at the small blood streaks now marring his previously clean shirt.

"Well, the good news is, you're not part demon," Yahaba announced. "The bad news is, I still don't know how to get rid of the contract between you and Oikawa." A tense silence settled over them.

"Does this mean you're going to contact the werewolves next?" Iwaizumi asked.

"Yeah. But if you don't feed him soon, it won't matter," Yahaba said grimly.

"I can't feed him if he won't come here," Iwaizumi replied.

"Actually..." Yahaba glanced at Kyoutani. "I'm escorting the demons to vampire territory. You should come with. Then, when we find Oikawa, we'll have his meal on hand." Kyoutani growled at the phrasing, but Iwaizumi nodded.

"All right. I'll go."

\-----

"Oikawa?" He didn't look up. "Oikawa!" The urgency in the voice made him finally lift his head. Hanamaki was crouched beside him, a panicked expression on his face. Oikawa hissed faintly and turned away. "Oikawa, have you been here all day?" Oikawa hunched his shoulders. Hanamaki grabbed his shoulder. "Iwaizumi said you didn't go to him today to feed, even though you promised me you would."

"I don't want to see him," Oikawa grumbled. "Go away, Makki."

"I'm not going away. And Iwaizumi is waiting in the living room to feed you," Hanamaki said. Oikawa tensed. "You don't have to talk to him. You just have to drink some of his blood. Oikawa, you were seriously injured, and you barely drank enough to start healing and get back here. You're due for a feeding anyway, and with you still not completely healed, you can't afford to try to postpone or skip a chance to drink."

"Watch me," Oikawa snapped.

"Why don't you want to see him?" Hanamaki demanded. Oikawa was silent. "Please. Oikawa. Just get the blood you need."

"No."

" _Tooru_ ," Hanamaki pleaded. "If you wait much longer, you're going to be in pain again." Vampires who went too long without feeding reacted in different ways. For Oikawa, if he went too long without blood, it caused him physical pain that got worse and worse until his body started to shut down from starvation.

"Don't care," Oikawa replied.

"Oikawa - Tooru - damn it, what are you afraid of?" Hanamaki hissed. "Yeah, Iwaizumi did a shitty thing when he contracted you, and he didn't think about what you were going through. But he hasn't hurt you."

"He could have. He still could. He's already used me without caring about what it would mean for me. For all I know, the only reason he didn't do the same thing to me that the other hunter did to Kageyama is because he didn't realize he could," Oikawa snarled. "He's...he can do whatever he wants to me. I can't stop him, I can't protect myself. Makki, I can't do anything," he finished, voice breaking. "So please, Makki, don't make me go near him. If I stay away, he can't give me any orders."

"Oikawa Tooru, if you stay away from that hunter, you are going to die," Hanamaki growled. Oikawa flinched. "I know you're scared. I would be, too, if I was in your situation. But you can't shut everyone out."

"How do you do it, Makki?" Oikawa asked, avoiding eye contact. "How do you just...trust Mattsun? Why did you even choose to make a contract in the first place?"

"I trust him because he's proven himself to be trustworthy," Hanamaki replied, letting Oikawa redirect the conversation slightly in hopes that it would calm him down. "I knew him for years before I ever fed from him, and once I started feeding from him, he never once tried to bribe me with blood or hold it over my head that he was feeding me. So when we made our contract, it was so he wouldn't get old and die and leave me all alone. He wanted a contract because he didn't want to abandon me, and I wanted it because I never want to lose him. That's what a contract was originally, you know." Oikawa tilted his head. Hanamaki noted that Oikawa seemed less terrified and decided that he needed to keep talking and keep Oikawa distracted. "I asked Yahaba one time about why contracts are so skewed in favor of the person feeding the vampire. He said that they used to be more even. Vampires got a steady food source, and because they didn't hunt humans besides their feeder, vampire hunters left them alone. In return, the humans got an extended lifespan."

"What changed?" Oikawa asked. Hanamaki shrugged.

"No one is exactly sure. But Yahaba says that the most likely of the theories is that the vampires and humans started getting closer, and vampire hunters started turning to other non-human species to hunt and drive out of their territory. Then, either the humans wanted more power to drive non-humans out, or the other species blamed their sudden persecution on the vampires. Either way, someone convinced a coven of blood mages to alter the fundamental magic of contracts so that the vampires were bound to obey their human contractors," Hanamaki explained. "After that, human-vampire relations decayed quickly, which resulted in this lovely tension between our species, where we try to kill each other for crossing the border."

"And you trust Mattsun, so you just...what? Ignore the whole enforced obedience thing?" Oikawa asked, returning to the previous topic.

"Not exactly. We have rules about what kinds of orders he's allowed to give me," Hanamaki replied. "For example, when you went missing, he ordered me not to go after you, because if you'd been captured and I went alone, like I wanted to, I could have been captured or killed, too. But he doesn't order me to do anything that would hurt me, and when we fight - although that doesn't happen very often - he's not allowed to order me to leave him alone, or stay with him if I try to walk away, or to agree with him. We have an agreement; if he breaks those rules, Yahaba will end our contract. Yahaba knows about it, and he's promised that if he ever sees any sign that Mattsun is hurting me, he'll end it. Not that I think I need to be protected from him, but..."

"At least you have a way out," Oikawa grimaced. "I don't, not until Yahaba finds out what's in Iwaizumi's blood."

"What happened to calling him Iwa-chan? Yahaba said you seemed to be getting along with him better and you were calling him Iwa-chan before you started the patrol the other day," Hanamaki reminded him. Oikawa huffed.

"I was hoping that giving him a cute nickname would help," he admitted. "But it's stupid."

"No, I think you might be onto something," Hanamaki said. "You know Iwaizumi as this fierce, deadly hunter, right? But you started calling him Iwa-chan when you started trusting him just a little. That trust was forgotten after what happened with the other hunter, but it was there. So maybe Iwaizumi is this looming enemy who might hurt you, but maybe the Iwa-chan you've gotten to know a little isn't all bad. Yahaba said he was pretty torn up when he finally realized just how horrible this has been for you." For a moment, Oikawa was silent. Then he glared at Hanamaki.

"You're trying to get me to go and feed from him," Oikawa accused.

"Of course I am. I'm your friend, your protector, and I'm trying to keep you from starving yourself to death. But that doesn't make what I said any less true," Hanamaki replied steadily. Oikawa shook his head.

"I'm not going to thank you," he informed his friend. Hanamaki grinned.

"If you stop putting off feeding because you're avoiding being near him, that'll be thanks enough," he replied, standing and holding a hand out to Oikawa, who took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"I still don't want to talk to him. Or hear him talk to me," Oikawa said.

"I'll go in first and let him know. I heard he promised to put you first until the contract is gone. I'm sure he'll do whatever he has to do to make you feel safe," Hanamaki replied.

\-----

Iwaizumi was almost glad when he was told Oikawa didn't want to hear him talk, because what could Iwaizumi say to him, anyway? The hunter couldn't really ask why Oikawa hadn't come on time to feed, because he knew it was because the vampire was afraid of him. He didn't know Oikawa well enough to know how to ask if he was doing any better. He didn't know how to tell without asking, either, though.

So he told himself he would keep as quiet and still as possible, and not make any moves that might startle the vampire. Hanamaki's parting words hung over the hunter as he waited:

"Don't do anything he doesn't explicitly ask you to do."

Oikawa stepped into the room, and Iwaizumi's gaze fixed on him immediately. He crossed the room slowly, moving like he expected Iwaizumi to attack him, or give him a horrible order at any moment. Iwaizumi had to fight the urge to hug him and stroke his hair and try to figure out if he was all right. Instead, he held out his arm and tilted his head, offering his wrist and his neck, because he wasn't sure how else to ask Oikawa where he wanted to bite. The vampire hesitated, then took Iwaizumi's arm and sank his fangs into the soft skin on the inside of his wrist. It stung a little, but the sensation that followed was more odd than unpleasant. As Oikawa drank, Iwaizumi realized that the vampire was keeping himself as far from Iwaizumi as possible while still being close enough to drink.

Regret lanced through him, and Iwaizumi wished he could reach out and run his fingers through Oikawa's soft brown hair to comfort and reassure him, but he resisted. He was going to do what Hanamaki said. Nothing Oikawa didn't actually ask for. No touching, no talking, no moving. Nothing that would make Oikawa feel threatened.

Iwaizumi watched as Oikawa lifted his head and licked a stray drop of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Your blood tastes sweeter for some reason, Iwa-chan," Oikawa murmured, the words barely audible. Iwaizumi hesitated, unsure if he was supposed to reply or not. And before he could figure it out, Oikawa turned and fled the room, leaving Iwaizumi with a bitten wrist and a strong desire to wrap the scared vampire in a hug and make sure nothing would ever scare him like this again.

The problem was, Iwaizumi was the reason he was so scared. The hunter sighed and glanced at his wrist, where the bite had already stopped bleeding. He wondered which would come first: Yahaba figuring out how to dissolve the contract or Oikawa's fear of Iwaizumi fading.


	9. Stand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry I haven't updated this in a few days! I've had a really busy weekend, and the dragon au distracted me. Oops. Anyway, here you go!

Hanamaki came to show Iwaizumi out a few minutes after Oikawa left.

"He bit your wrist," Hanamaki observed. Iwaizumi glanced at the wound and sighed.

"Yeah. He wouldn't get any closer to me than that, and I don't blame him," the hunter said. "After all, he can't fight at all, even if it wasn't for the contract. If he knew how..." Iwaizumi trailed off. "I don't know. Never mind." Hanamaki nodded thoughtfully.

"No, you have a point," he mused. "Do you know the way to the border?"

"Of course. And I promise not to kill any vampires on my way out," Iwaizumi agreed. "But if Oikawa doesn't come to me in two days, I'll come back here." Hanamaki studied him for a moment.

"Just don't shoot him if he does cross the border to go to you," he warned, half joking. Iwaizumi met his gaze steadily.

"I won't let anything happen to him," the hunter promised. Hanamaki smiled.

"Good. Now get going before your hunters get antsy," the vampire urged. Iwaizumi nodded and left, headed for the border. Hanamaki watched him go, then murmured to himself, "Can't fight, hm?"

"What's that?" Matsukawa asked, walking up behind Hanamaki and sliding an arm around his waist.

"Our friendly neighborhood hunter pointed out that Oikawa has zero self defense skills," Hanamaki replied, leaning into Matsukawa's hold. "Maybe learning how to defend himself would help him calm down a bit, especially around Iwaizumi. I know being able to pin you down is very reassuring for me." Hanamaki grinned, and Matsukawa kissed the corner of his mouth.

"So what do you have in mind for teaching Oikawa self-defense?" the human asked.

"He wanted to go to the barracks to check on Kageyama, since the border group kept him with them," Hanamaki reminded him. "We can talk to Commander Sawamura about it."

\-----

Two days later, when Iwaizumi arrived to feed Oikawa, Hanamaki led him toward the border vampires' barracks instead of into the house. Iwaizumi stepped into the open area the vampires apparently used for training and stopped, staring. Oikawa was facing the small orange-haired vampire that had been with Sawamura at the border meeting. One the sidelines stood the other border vampires, with the exception of the angry one from the meeting, Tanaka. There were a few that Iwaizumi didn't recognize, including a blond vampire who watched his surroundings with a bored, almost condescending expression, and a skittish-looking, freckled vampire. Sawamura noticed Iwaizumi and Hanamaki's arrival and held up a hand, signalling them to wait. Before Iwaizumi could wonder why, the two vampires in the middle of the area moved. Hinata darted forward, so fast that he was little more than an orange blur, and Oikawa sidestepped, just slow enough that his foot was still there for Hinata to trip over. The smaller vampire hopped neatly over it, though, and lunged for Oikawa again. Oikawa scrambled to block the blows Hinata aimed at him, and just barely managed it. However, Oikawa didn't manage to keep his balance, and he fell, landing on the ground. Hinata pounced.

A shriek of protest erupted from Oikawa, and the two vampires writhed on the ground, Hinata cackling for some reason, and Oikawa yelping and trying to squirm away.

"All right, that's enough," Sawamura called as the yelps from Oikawa devolved into helpless laughter. Hinata immediately sprang away from Oikawa, who sat up, dirt smudged across his cheek and a wide, carefree grin stretching across his lips.

"Tickling is cheating, Hinata!" Oikawa complained, getting to his feet.

"Is not!" Hinata replied, grinning.

"You did better that time," Sawamura said, approaching the pair. "But Hinata, you need to remember that you're too small to try pinning your opponents. You shouldn't let it get to close range brawling and wrestling on the ground." Hianta shrugged, enthusiasm unabated. "Oikawa, let's work on your balance after you take a break."

"A break? But-" Oikawa broke off, his grin fading when he noticed Hanamaki and Iwaizumi standing nearby. "Oh. It's that late already?"

"Go on," Sawamura urged. "You can use my office." Oikawa glanced at the newcomers, then nodded.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"Thank me by taking a break for once, before you tire out all of my people," Sawamura replied cheerfully. Then he sobered and added, "Hanamaki warned me not to let you avoid feeding, and I should have made you take a break and tried to convince you to go see Iwaizumi hours ago. You've been working nonstop for two days, Oikawa, and if you won't rest properly, at least make sure you get blood on time, okay?" Oikawa sighed.

"All right," he agreed, then turned toward Iwaizumi, plastering a smile on his face that Iwaizumi was pretty sure was fake. "Come on, Iwa-chan. The Commander said we can use his office." Oikawa headed for the office, and Iwaizumi followed.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your sparring," Iwaizumi said. "It looks like you've been working hard." Oikawa paused and glanced at the hunter questioningly. "I'm a vampire hunter. And I've pinned you before, remember? I can tell you've improved, even though it's only been two days." Oikawa shrugged and stepped into Sawamura's office. Iwaizumi followed, and Oikawa hesitated before closing the door. Iwaizumi studied him. "You could leave that open if it makes you feel safer." Oikawa tensed, then sighed and walked past Iwaizumi to sit in Sawamura's chair.

"Why did you come here?" Oikawa demanded, crossing his arms defensively.

"Because you didn't come to me," Iwaizumi replied. "And crossing your arms like that adds just a little extra time to any defensive moves you might want to make. You should keep your posture looser." Oikawa narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Iwaizumi shrugged. "You don't have to. I just thought you should know."

"You could have just kept waiting. This is the second time you've come into vampire territory to feed me," Oikawa noted. "Why?"

"Well, at least you're talking to me again," Iwaizumi muttered. Oikawa blinked. "Look, I told you that I was going to put you first from now on, didn't I? I meant that. I'm not going to let you starve just because you're scared or angry or busy learning how to fight. As much as you hate it, you need my blood. So I'm here. And if you keep staying in vampire territory, I'll keep coming to feed you."

"Why did you tell Hanamaki I should learn how to fight?" Oikawa asked, not even bothering to be subtle about changing the topic.

"I didn't," Iwaizumi answered. He considered leaving it there, but he noticed Oikawa had relaxed a little while they'd been talking, so he decided to keep going. "But I mentioned it because when I needed something to channel my fear and anger and pain into, I started learning how to fight. Having something to focus on, especially something that wears you out and makes you feel like you're getting stronger, helps sometimes. I'm glad it seems to be working for you."

"Even if it means that next time, you're the one pinned to a wall or something?" Oikawa murmured.

"You looked really happy earlier, so yes. But there won't be a next time," Iwaizumi replied. "At least while the contract it in place, there's no need for us to fight." Something flared in Oikawa's eyes.

"I could still try to drain you," he pointed out. "As long as I don't let any blood escape, the contract would end and I'd be free. Wouldn't you fight me if I tried?" For a moment, Iwaizumi studied him.

"Is that what you want?" the hunter asked. "After what I've done to you, I certainly deserve it." For a long moment, they were silent. Then Oikawa spoke.

"It might take Yahaba a while to figure out how to dissolve the contract, even once he does know what's mixed in with your human blood," the vampire said. "So I might be stuck with you for a while. Makki says his and Mattsun's contract works because they trust each other, and they have rules about what kinds of orders Mattsun is allowed to give."

"Then if you're not planning to drain me and dump my body somewhere, we should talk about that," Iwaizumi replied. "Rules, boundaries, that kind of thing." Oikawa nodded, then took a deep breath.

"Before that, there's something I want to say," he announced. Iwaizumi waited, watching him. "You used me. You shot me and contracted me and tried to use me as a messenger and then as a hostage. You could do quite literally anything, and no matter how good I get at fighting, all you have to do is talk and I'd lose." Oikawa seemed tense as he spoke, while the hunter flinched and hung his head.

"I know," Iwaizumi said, because he didn't know what else to say besides, "I'm sorry." He forced himself to meet Oikawa's eyes as he waited him to speak again, but the vampire was silent. "I don't know what to do to help you, but if you tell me how I can help, I'll do whatever I can to make this better." After a moment, he added gently, "You should drink. Then we can talk about boundaries." Oikawa nodded, seeming just the slightest bit more relaxed, and Iwaizumi held out his arm. He expected for Oikawa to bite his wrist again, to keep as far away from Iwaizumi as possible, but it seemed like their discussion had calmed him, and maybe being able to say what had happened to him, to put it out in the open and have Iwaizumi renew determination to do what he could to help, had made the vampire just a little less wary of the hunter, because when Oikawa walked up to him and sank his fangs into Iwaizumi's skin, it was farther up the inside of his forearm, close to the inside of his elbow.

Iwaizumi held still as Oikawa drank, though the hunter had to suppress the urge to pet the vampire's hair. As Oikawa finished and lifted his head, Iwaizumi noticed that the smudge of dirt from when he'd fallen while sparring was still spread across his cheek. He lifted his hand automatically, then froze before his fingers brushed Oikawa's skin. Mentally berating himself - Hanamaki had told him last time not to do anything unless Oikawa specifically asked him to, damn it - Iwaizumi started to lower his hand.

"What are you doing?" Oikawa asked. Iwaizumi hesitated, hand hovering in the air between them.

"You have some dirt on your face. From before," Iwaizumi answered. For what felt like an eternity, Oikawa considered this. Then he tilted his head slightly.

"Where?" Iwaizumi wasn't sure if that was permission to touch the vampire, but Oikawa wasn't moving away from him, so he slowly moved his hand closer to the vampire's cheek. There was plenty of time for Oikawa to move away if he wanted to, Iwaizumi made sure of that, but he held still. Iwaizumi's fingertips brushed Oikawa's jaw, and then his thumb swept over the vampire's cheek, gently rubbing away the dirt.

"There," Iwaizumi murmured, dropping his hand. For an instant, Oikawa's expression was open, vulnerable. Like he hadn't expected a soft touch from Iwaizumi. Which was fair, the hunter reminded himself as his heart clenched. There had been some gentleness between them, like the two mornings he'd woken up with a sleepy Oikawa in his arms, but their relationship had begun with Iwaizumi shooting him, and after seeing what Suguru had done to Kageyama - after what Suguru had done directly to Oikawa - there was no reason for Oikawa to have expected anything but violence from the hunter who had contracted him involuntarily. Then Oikawa stepped back, expression unreadable. "So. Boundaries," Iwaizumi said briskly, hoping he hadn't made Oikawa uncomfortable. "Where do we start?"

"Orders," Oikawa replied.

"I swear I won't make you do anything that would hurt you or your friends," Iwaizumi said immediately.

"That's a good start. But I'd prefer you not give me any orders at all," Oikawa replied firmly. "Technically I can't stop you, but..."

"If that's what you want," Iwaizumi agreed. "What about things like when Matsukawa gave Hanamaki an order for his own good?"

"Mattsun and Makki have been together for years. They're part of each other's lives because they trust and love each other," Oikawa snapped. "Not because one of them wanted to use the other." Iwaizumi wasn't sure what to say to that, but luckily Oikawa kept talking. "I have Makki and now the border vampires to look out for me. What I do is none of your business." Iwaizumi wanted to protest; he wanted to do more than just provide the blood Oikawa needed, partly because he still wanted to make up for what he'd done. He didn't want to think about why else he might be invested in making sure Oikawa was taking care of himself, but it definitely didn't have anything to do with soft brown hair, or the way Iwaizumi's chest felt too tight when Oikawa had looked at him in that quiet, vulnerable way a few minutes before, and it definitely didn't have anything to do with how completely comfortable he'd felt with an unfairly adorable and honestly downright _pretty_ vampire dozing on top of him.

"All right. No orders at all, on one condition," Iwaizumi said, pushing his thoughts away. "You have to promise not to avoid feeding. If that's all I can do to help you, then please, at least let me do that without you trying to avoid it."

"Fine. Makki will probably lecture me if I try to put off feeding again anyway," Oikawa agreed with a sigh. Then he seemed to compose himself and continued, "Next, physical boundaries." Iwaizumi tried very, very hard not to think about how often he'd found himself wanting to touch Oikawa's hair. "No more shoving me into the wall, okay?"

"All right," the hunter agreed immediately. He resisted the urge to ask about less violent touches. Like petting the vampire's hair or being his pillow. "I promise I won't hurt you."

"Anything else...ask first. And I'll probably say no," Oikawa told him.

"Of course. Is that all?" Iwaizumi asked.

"For now," Oikawa replied. "Now, I want to get back to practicing." He stepped past Iwaizumi and walked out of the office. Iwaizumi followed him back to the training area, where Hanamaki was waiting to take the hunter back to the border, since he wasn't familiar with the area around the barracks. Suga offered to walk with him instead, so the two humans set off together. Oikawa watched them go, unconsciously lifting his hand to his cheek, fingertips brushing the same place Iwaizumi's fingers had been. The hunter's fingers were a little rough, but the way he'd brushed Oikawa's cheek had been so gentle, reminding him of how reassuring it had felt when Iwaizumi had run his fingers through the vampire's hair, before the whole mess with Suguru. It really wasn't fair.

"Oikawa? You okay?" Hanamaki asked. Oikawa jumped, not having noticed his friend's approach.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured the other vampire, smiling as normally as he could. "I'm going to spar a bit longer, okay?"

"Please don't stay out all night again," Hanamaki replied. "Even if you've fed, you still need sleep." Oikawa just shrugged and looked around for an opponent to practice with. "I mean it, Oikawa."

"Don't worry, Makki," Oikawa murmured. "I'm fine." Hanamaki frowned.

"You're not fine. But I'll drop it for now."

"Thanks," Oikawa grumbled, shaking his head at his friend.

"Oikawa! Let's spar some more!" Hinata exclaimed, bouncing up to them. "Quick, before the Commander shows up and keeps me from defeating you with tickling again!"

"I won't let you get the chance this time," Oikawa replied, the beginnings of a real smile tugging at his lips. Iwaizumi was right about one thing: learning to fight was helping. Oikawa found that, even though he still lost every round, even against the smallest border vampire, he felt stronger, better able to defend himself, and a little more whole every time he stood up from being knocked down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no one think about how Iwaizumi kind of implied that if Oikawa wanted to kill him by drinking all of his blood to escape the contract, Iwaizumi would let him.


	10. Sleep

_Oikawa smelled blood as he approached Hanamaki's home. He sped up, fear lancing through him. The front door was open when Oikawa reached it, and he burst into the house, looking around frantically. Hanamaki lay limply on the floor, his body dotted with cuts, some shallow ones that were little more than scratches and some that were deep enough that Oikawa got a glimpse of bone showing through the torn flesh._

_"So you finally came back," someone murmured. Oikawa whirled and found Suguru stalking toward him. "I came looking for you, but I found_ this _instead," the hunter murmured, nodding to where Hanamaki lay. Oikawa turned toward his friend, crouched beside him and grabbed his wrist. Hanamaki didn't respond._

_"Makki, wake up," Oikawa urged, shaking his friend. "Makki, we have to get out of here." The other vampire didn't move. Oikawa shook him again, desperately, but got no response. A hand came to rest on Oikawa's arm, pulled him to his feet. It was Suguru, he knew it. The hunter's hand trailed down his arm, to his hand. As soon as fingertips brushed his hand, pain shot through him, and he yelped. It hurt just as much as when Suguru had shot his hand, but that wasn't the only pain he felt. Suguru's other hand came to rest on his hip, and the pain from that wound returned, too, tearing a scream from his throat. He would have fallen, but the hunter held him up. It was happening again. It was all happening again, but instead of Kageyama being the other vampire Suguru had hurt, Makki lay unmoving on the floor._

_"This is your own fault, you know," Suguru murmured. "If you hadn't gone into human territory in the first place, none of this would have happened." Oikawa made a sound halfway between a scream and a sob, the agony from his wounds only increasing as guilt washed over him. Because this_ was _his fault. He'd gotten himself into the situation that led to his contract with Iwaizumi, and he'd dragged Makki with him. Now Suguru was here - he's dead, though, Iwaizumi shot him, a small part of him protested - and he'd hurt Makki, maybe killed him, and it was all Oikawa's fault._

_"You're dead," Oikawa whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut. "You're dead, Iwa-chan killed you."_

_"You survived being shot by me," Iwaizumi's voice pointed out. "Are you sure Suguru's dead?"_

_"Yes! Everyone saw him die!" Oikawa shouted. The throbbing of his wounds faded suddenly, and then it wasn't Suguru's hands holding him up anymore, it was Iwaizumi. Oikawa sobbed with relief. Suguru was gone, everything would be okay. Oikawa's gaze fell to the floor, where Hanamaki still lay, battered and broken. Oikawa's next sob caught in his throat, and he fell back against Iwaizumi in his haste to escape. If he could just get away, if he could just get out of the house, away from the smell of Hanamaki's blood, then everything would be back to normal._

_"Don't run away," Iwaizumi ordered. Oikawa froze as the weight of the command settled over him. No, this wasn't happening. It wasn't. Iwaizumi had_ promised _not to order him around. "Suguru might be dead, but that doesn't mean you're safe. After all, he's not the one you're contracted to." Oikawa, held in place by Iwaizumi's order not to run away, managed to look over his shoulder to stare, horrified, at Iwaizumi, who just smiled. "Scream as loud as you want," the hunter told him. "None of your friends are alive to hear it." Oikawa screamed in terror before Iwaizumi even touched him._

Oikawa bolted upright, a scream caught in his throat. He sat there, gulping at the air, trying to calm himself, trying to tell himself it was just a dream, but a nagging thought kept him from convincing himself that everything was okay.

 _Makki. What if a hunter get find him?_ Oikawa shuddered and scrambled out of bed. He didn't bother to change clothes, just headed for Makki's as quickly as he could.

Hanamaki woke abruptly when a third person climbed into the bed he and Matsukawa shared.

"What...?" Matsukawa grumbled sleepily. Hanamaki tensed, then recognized Oikawa and frowned.

"Oikawa? What's wrong?" Hanamaki asked. Oikawa didn't answer. Instead, he let out a sound that might have been a sigh or a whimper, and clung to Hanamaki like he was afraid the other vampire would disappear. Hanamaki glanced at Matsukawa, who shrugged helplessly. Hanamaki sighed and wrapped an arm around Oikawa's shoulders. "Hey, whatever it is, it's okay," he murmured reassuringly. Oikawa's shoulders shook, and for a moment, Hanamaki was confused. Then he and Matsukawa exchanged horrified looks, because Oikawa was crying, and neither of them knew why. After a few tense, worried seconds, Hanamaki started rubbing soothing circles into Oikawa's shoulders, murmuring reassurances until the shaking stopped, and Oikawa sniffled quietly. "You okay?" Hanamaki asked. Oikawa hesitated. He could tell Hanamaki about his nightmare, but that would only put an extra burden on his friend and protector. He'd already caused enough trouble for Makki, so he just took a deep breath.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry for waking you up," Oikawa whispered, moving away and trying to fix his expression into something resembling his usual smile, but he must have failed, because Hanamaki and Matsukawa just watched him with nearly identical expressions of worry and disbelief. Oikawa turned and fled before they could ask any questions about why he was there or what had happened. Oikawa tried not to think about the fact that while he'd been having nightmares since the incident with Suguru, none of them had been that bad before. He didn't get back to sleep that night, because every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Hanamaki's broken, lifeless body and he could hear Iwaizumi's voice, over and over again, telling him to scream as loud as he wanted. Oikawa didn't even bother trying to sleep the next night. Instead, he convinced some of the border guards to spar with him.

\-----

"Hopefully you'll be able to get him to take a break. He's been going nonstop," Suga murmured as he led Iwaizuki into the training area two days later. Suga had been waiting at the border with Hinata when Iwaizumi came to feed Oikawa. Hinata had continued his patrol, leaving Suga to walk Iwaizumi to the barracks.

"Since when?" Iwaizumi asked, frowning.

"Since the morning after you left. Hanamaki's been going crazy trying to get him to sleep. But every time we think we've gotten him to lay down for a bit, he's back at it. Tsukishima actually sparred with him earlier to try to wear him out. That's how bad it's been," Suga confided. Iwaizumi studied Oikawa, who was talking to the nervous, freckled vampire who'd been there the last time Iwaizumi was at the barracks. "I think he's trying to get Yamaguchi to spar with him now," Suga sighed. That sigh, and the way Suga's lips were pulled down in a worried frown, were uncomfortably familiar.

"I'll try to at least get him to sit down," Iwaizumi replied, telling himself that now was not the time to start remembering the reason he recognized that particular expression. "But I promised I wouldn't give him any orders, so he probably won't listen to me."

"Oh, you're back," commented the blond vampire Iwaizumi who'd been with the freckled one last time. "You should take Oikawa with you when you go. Then maybe he'll stop bothering everyone."

"Tsukishima, be nice," Suga chided. The vampire shot Suga a sullen glance, then sighed. Iwaizumi decided to ignore Tsukishima and headed toward Oikawa, who noticed his approach and fixed a smile on his face.

"Commander's office again?" Iwaizumi asked, noticing that there were dark circles under the vampire's eyes. Oikawa nodded and waved to the freckled vampire - Suga had called him Yamaguchi, right? - before turning and leading the way. Iwaizumi followed, wondering what Suga thought Iwaizumi could say to Oikawa that would have more of an effect than anything Hanamaki might say.

Once the office door was closed behind them, Iwaizumi spoke.

"I know you said it's none of my business," he began. "But you look exhausted, and Suga said you haven't been resting enough. Is everything okay?" He wasn't sure what kind of response he'd been expecting, but whatever it was, it wasn't the response Oikawa gave him.

"I can't close my eyes without reliving worse and worse versions of what happened with Suguru. Everything's just _fantastic_ ," Oikawa snapped without thinking. For a long moment, they stared at each other, Iwaizumi stunned and Oikawa horrified that he'd blurted that out to Iwaizumi of all people.

"You're having nightmares," Iwaizumi murmured. "That makes sense." He hesitated, then asked, "Is there anything I can do that would help you sleep?" Oikawa's mind flashed involuntarily to the way Iwaizumi's fingers in his hair had calmed him before.

"I don't want to sleep," Oikawa replied. "I want to just drink and then get back to learning how to fight." Iwaizumi studied him, then crossed his arms and leaned against the door.

"You know, working yourself to the bone isn't going to help in the long run," Iwaizumi informed him. "Do Hanamaki and the others know that you've been having nightmares, or do they think you're just too stubborn to sleep?" Oikawa scowled.

"You said you know that it's none of your business. So why are we still talking about it?" the vampire demanded.

"Because I know that nightmares suck, and I also know that as appealing as it seems, working yourself to death to avoid sleep is not a good idea." Iwaizumi almost regretted having said anything, because he really didn't want to talk about his own experiences, especially because his own overworking and learning how to fight to cope had everything to do with why he'd become a vampire hunter, and Aone's death really wasn't a topic he wanted to discuss with Oikawa right now. Or ever.

"And Iwa-chan knows this from experience?" Oikawa asked, tone disbelieving. Iwaizumi scowled at him.

"What, you don't think I've ever been through anything nightmare-inducing?" Iwaizumi grumbled.

"That's not what I meant," Oikawa replied. There was a pause, then Oikawa asked, "What happened?" Iwaizumi resisted the urge to groan in dismay. Then he realized that Oikawa was steering their conversation away from the topic of Oikawa's lack of sleep.

"Maybe I'll tell you after you drink some blood and have a nap," Iwaizumi replied. Oikawa frowned, but inwardly, he relaxed. The nightmare version of Iwaizumi, which had appeared alongside Makki's lifeless body whenever Oikawa tried to sleep since he'd cried while clinging to his friend in the middle of the night, was all orders and cruel smiles. This version was much better, Oikawa decided. Nosy and stubborn, but... Oikawa remembered how he'd been struck by how completely loyal this hunter was to his friends. Maybe, just maybe, this Iwaizumi - the real one - wouldn't break his promise. Maybe Oikawa could trust him just a little.

"The blood, I can do. But-"

"Let's start with that, then," the hunter interrupted. He sat on the floor, still with his back to the door. Oikawa eyed him, then shrugged and knelt in front of him. Iwaizumi held out his arm, thinking Oikawa would bite him there again. Oikawa almost did, almost reached for the hunter's arm. But then he hesitated. Iwaizumi tilted his head curiously, noticing the hesitation. It gave Oikawa a rather tempting view of the hunter's neck, and Oikawa briefly considered biting him there instead. He'd have to get closer to the hunter than he wanted. But maybe...maybe, if he could push through his fear of being near the hunter, it would take away some of the terror of the nightmare-Iwaizumi. Oikawa leaned forward, supporting himself with one hand on Iwaizumi's knee and the other on his shoulder.

"Hold still, Iwa-chan," Oikawa murmured. The hunter studied him for a moment, then tilted his chin a little more, exposing his neck. Oikawa lowered his head and paused, his mouth almost brushing Iwaizumi's skin. The hunter was carefully keeping his breathing steady and his body relaxed, as non-threatening as he could manage. Oikawa shifted, putting a little more weight on Iwaizumi's shoulder, then carefully sank his fangs into his neck. The vampire drank slowly, thinking that Iwaizumi's blood tasted sweeter than it had the first few times he'd fed from the hunter. Maybe it was a result of having Suguru's blood burn his throat from the inside, or maybe there was some other explanation, but either way, Oikawa savored the taste. All human blood smelled sweetly metallic to him, but Iwaizumi's blood had a special flavor of sweetness that Oikawa hadn't tasted before, at least not that he could remember.

"Can I touch your hair?" Iwaizumi asked after a moment. Oikawa tensed, his jaw clenching automatically. Iwaizumi let out a faint noise of protest as the motion tore at the puncture wounds from Oikawa's fangs, and Oikawa purposefully relaxed his jaw, then absentmindedly lapped at the bleeding wounds, soothing the sting. "Please don't do that," Iwaizumi said, voice oddly strained. Oikawa frowned, then remembered the question that had made him tense up.

"Why do you want to touch my hair?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because it's soft, and you seemed to relax when I did it before," Iwaizumi replied simply. Oikawa blinked. "If you're uncomfortable with it, then-"

"It's fine," Oikawa said, his mouth moving before he could really think about it. He'd gotten this close to the hunter already, he could take the hunter touching him. Especially if it was going to be as soothing as when he'd run his fingers through Oikawa's hair before. Iwaizumi smiled, although Oikawa couldn't see it, because his face was still a breath away from Iwaizumi's neck. Iwaizumi's hand lifted, and his fingers trailed over the back of Oikawa's head gently. Oikawa brought his mouth back to the still-bleeding wounds he'd made in Iwaizumi's skin and continued drinking as the hunter's nails scraped lightly across his scalp, then shifted to stroke through the soft, short hairs at the nape of the vampire's neck. Oikawa found his eyes drifting shut even as his mouth left the bite. With warmth from the hunter's blood filling his stomach and Iwaizumi still playing with his hair, Oikawa's head dropped until his forehead was resting on Iwaizumi's shoulder.

"You should get comfortable," Iwaizumi murmured as a wave of exhaustion swept over Oikawa. The vampire wanted to argue - the petting thing was nice and all, but it was putting him to sleep, and he didn't want to sleep, no matter how pleased he was that he didn't feel as terrified of Iwaizumi anymore - but he found himself sliding to the floor. There was a warm, comfortable thing to lean on - Iwaizumi's lap, a less sleepy part of his mind supplied - so he curled up, his head resting on Iwaizumi's thigh. Iwaizumi continued with his gentle ministrations until Oikawa's breathing evened out. "I hope Commander Sawamura doesn't need his office any time soon," Iwaizumi murmured to himself, keeping one hand resting comfortingly on Oikawa's head and bringing his other hand up to tentatively prod his new bite mark.

Iwaizumi stared down at the sleeping vampire and shook his head. He didn't know why Oikawa had chosen to bite his neck instead of his arm, but he wasn't going to object, especially since it seemed to have led to the vampire getting some much-needed rest. Iwaizumi closed his own eyes and found his thoughts sliding towards Aone. Before this thing with Oikawa being sleepless and terrified, Iwaizumi hadn't thought about Aone in a long time. More accurately, he hadn't allowed himself to think about him, not since he'd gathered his band of hunters, and especially not after he'd left Suga in vampire territory.

Oikawa let out a slight whimper, possibly the beginnings of a nightmare, and Iwaizumi returned his attention to stroking the vampire's hair soothingly. Oikawa wiggled a little, and Iwaizumi hesitated before carefully gathering the vampire into his arms as best he could without waking him up and shifted them to the side, so they weren't blocking the door. Just in case Sawamura or one of the others decided to check on him. Oikawa must have been utterly exhausted, because he didn't wake up, even when Iwaizumi realized he'd somehow managed to end up with an armful of sleeping vampire - _again_ \- and groaned in exasperation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to A_Sirens_Lullaby for looking over the nightmare scene for me!


	11. Story

Oikawa was warm and rather comfortable, and he didn't really feel like moving, but he could hear people talking around him, and that wasn't something that usually happened when he was just waking up. Oikawa tensed. He was waking up, but he didn't remember falling asleep. He didn't remember having any nightmares for once, but he didn't know when or where he'd gone to sleep. His eyes flew open, and he realized that the pleasant warmth around him was the result of the person whose lap he was sitting on and whose shoulder he was using as a pillow and whose arms were wrapped loosely around him, as well as the rather nice blanket apparently spread over the two of them. Oikawa shifted, trying to see who the hell he had actually fallen asleep on. His gaze caught on the very clear vampire bite on the person's neck, and he froze.

That's right. He'd been feeding, and then Iwaizumi had been stroking his hair, and then...he must've fallen asleep. He'd fallen asleep on Iwaizumi, and woken up still on top of him. How many times had this happened now?

"He's awake," Iwaizumi said. The conversation in the room broke off. Oikawa sighed and lifted his head. Hanamaki, Matsukawa, Sawamura, and Suga were by Sawamura's desk. Yahaba and Kyoutani were off to the side, probably having their own private argument while the others talked. Why so many people were standing around, Oikawa didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"So, how'd you sleep?" Hanamaki asked, crossing the room and crouching beside them. Oikawa glared at the smirk on his friend's face.

"I wasn't sleeping. I just closed my eyes for a minute," Oikawa snapped.

"You fell asleep yesterday when Iwaizumi came to feed you," Sawamura replied. "This morning, Kyoutani came to the border to accuse us of kidnapping Iwaizumi, because he hadn't come back." Oikawa froze. That was impossible. There was no way he had... Oikawa glanced around the room. Everyone was nodding in agreement. Kyoutani was scowling. Hanamaki and Matsukawa were smirking. Suga was hiding a smile. Yahaba just shrugged. Which meant Oikawa really had spent the entire night in the hunter's arms.

"If you hadn't looked so comfortable, I would have tried convincing Iwaizumi to put you on an actual bed. But you were curled up so cutely that I just couldn't," Hanamaki cooed. Oikawa opened his mouth to protest, then realized that he was _still_ on Iwaizumi's lap, snuggled up under a blanket with the hunter. Oikawa growled and threw the blanket over Hanamaki's head, then scrambled to his feet before glancing at Iwaizumi. The hunter was watching him, lips curved upward slightly. Hanamaki pulled the blanket off his head and stood. "In case you were wondering, yes, Iwaizumi did spend the night on the floor, holding you and calming you down every time you started to have one of the nightmares you've apparently been having but didn't tell anyone about," Hanamaki said cheerfully. Oikawa scowled at him. Iwaizumi was quiet as he got to his feet, but Oikawa heard the quiet noise he made under his breath as he stretched. Oikawa realized the hunter was probably stiff and sore from spending the night being used as a bed.

"What was everyone talking about before I woke up?" Oikawa asked, trying to redirect the conversation and shake off an odd feeling he refused to name.

"Well, since apparently Iwaizumi over there is the only one who can get you to sleep, we were thinking about suggesting you visit the hunters for a few days," Sawamura answered.

"You weren't supposed to tell him that!" Hanamaki protested. "We were going to talk him into thinking it was his idea, remember?"

"Iwaizumi hasn't even agreed yet, so why bother with the whole elaborate plan that probably wouldn't have worked anyway?" Sawamura replied.

"You are no fun, Commander. No fun at all," Hanamaki informed him sourly. Oikawa glanced at Iwaizumi, who shrugged.

"I wasn't going to go along with their crazy plan. I stopped listening to them about two minutes after they started plotting. Matsukawa and Hanamaki are terrifying, by the way. But the point is, I have a better plan." Silence fell as Iwaizumi's words registered.

"Unless you're going to give him an order, I don't see how you're going to get him to stop sparring nonstop and go back to human territory with you," Sawamura said. Iwaizumi's mouth twitched in a smirk.

"I'm not going to order him. I'm going to bribe him," Iwaizumi replied. Before anyone could ask what exactly Iwaizumi was planning to bribe Oikawa with, the hunter turned to the surprised vampire and said, "I know you're getting better at hand to hand fighting, but I noticed that the border vampires don't really use weapons." Oikawa's eyes widened.

"Wait, you're not going to teach a vampire how to shoot, are you?" Kyoutani protested. Iwaizumi shrugged.

"Why not? He's only got close range skills right now. Learning how to use a gun would be a good idea, if he wants to," Iwaizumi replied, glancing at Oikawa, who was staring at the two hunters. Oikawa was pretty sure that hunters didn't usually just teach someone how to use their weapons. Especially not vampires. "Besides, you fell asleep before you had a chance to ask about that story you wanted to hear again." Not that Iwaizumi actually wanted to tell Oikawa that story, but if it got Oikawa to cooperate and take care of himself without Iwaizumi having to break his promise not to give Oikawa orders, then it might actually be worth it.

"Your plan is to bribe Oikawa into going with you by promising to teach him how to shoot guns and tell him stories?" Sawamura asked incredulously.

"Sure," Oikawa agreed. As much as he liked being around his friend, he was fully aware that Makki and Mattsun would probably team up to tease him mercilessly for falling asleep on Iwaizumi. Again. Not that they knew about the first two times, as far as Oikawa was aware. Oikawa decided they must never know. Aside from that, he was looking forward to possibly using a gun to shoot something instead of being shot by one.

"And I can't believe that worked," Sawamura sighed. Suga shrugged.

"Yahaba, you're welcome to come and argue with Kyoutani any time," Iwaizumi added. The blood mage blinked, and Kyoutani glared at the other hunter.

"I'm feeling left out," Hanamaki complained.

"Yahaba is a blood mage, not a vampire, and Oikawa will hopefully be staying closer to me this time," Iwaizumi began.

"I don't think that's actually possible," Kyoutani grumbled.

"So the other hunters shouldn't try anything," Iwaizumi continued, ignoring Kyoutani. "But too many vampires crossing the border will attract attention, especially since Ushijima's group is in the area and they have a mage who can sense nonhumans."

"Tendou will stay away if he knows what's good for him," Kyoutani growled. "If he bothers Kunimi again, Kindaichi will shoot him. And Watari and I will, too."

"As wonderful as it is to hear you two talk about more hunters in the area, can we please go back to the part where the growly one said it wasn't possible for Oikawa to stay closer to Iwaizumi?" Hanamaki piped up.

"Well, if I'm going to stay with the hunters for a while, I'm going to go pack a bag. Let's go, Iwa-chan," Oikawa said hurriedly. He grabbed the hunter's arm and pulled him toward the door, so focused on getting away before Hanamaki got his answer that he didn't realize he was dragging the hunter along without being afraid of touching him.

"Well, both nights Oikawa stayed at the base, he stayed in Iwaizumi's room," Kyoutani explained. There was a sort of half horrified, half thrilled silence for several long seconds.

"So what you're saying is, this isn't the first time Oikawa's fallen asleep with Iwaizumi," Matsukawa summarized. Oikawa let go of Iwaizumi and bolted.

"Well, Iwaizumi might be grumpy, but you saw the way Oikawa was curled up, clinging in his sleep," Hanamaki mused. "He must be comfortable." Hanamaki and Matsukawa turned evaluating gazes on Iwaizumi, who hesitated, then turned and hastily followed Oikawa. Hanamaki and Matsukawa seemed to get more intimidating every time Iwaizumi saw them. He caught up to Oikawa almost immediately.

"So why did you invite Yahaba to hang around, too?" Oikawa asked, glancing sideways at Iwaizumi as they walked.

"Kyoutani really, really enjoys arguing with Yahaba," Iwaizumi explained with a shrug.

"I think Yahaba likes their arguments, too," Oikawa replied. Iwaizumi nodded thoughtfully.

"They are rather enthusiastic about them," he commented. They walked in silence for a moment.

"Are you really going to tell me about whatever it was that gave you nightmares?" Oikawa asked. Iwaizumi sighed. He really, really didn't want to talk about it. But...he hadn't talked about it since he'd told his hunting group the short version and then firmly requested that they never bring it up again.

"I don't like to talk about it. But yeah, if you really want to know, I'll tell you." They left the barracks, Oikawa leading the way. Iwaizumi was quiet, and Oikawa thought maybe he wasn't going to tell him anything after all. When Iwaizumi spoke, he said something Oikawa hadn't expected. "Ever heard of a vampire named Futakuchi?" Oikawa froze and spun around to gape at Iwaizumi.

"Futakuchi? Futakuchi Kenji?" Oikawa hissed. Iwaizumi nodded. "But...he's been dead for years." Another nod from the hunter. "You knew him?"

"I knew him well enough," Iwaizumi sighed, and they started walking again. "Mostly because he followed a friend of mine around for a while." For the rest of the walk, Iwaizumi was silent, gathering his thoughts and trying to figure out how to say this without getting too emotional over it. It wasn't until Oikawa was gathering clothes and packing for several days that Iwaizumi finally said, "Aone Takanobu was my best friend. We grew up together, almost like brothers. When we were about ten, we were exploring near the border and stumbled across a young vampire."

"Futakuchi liked to trespass to tease humans," Oikawa murmured. He'd only met the other vampire a few times, but Futakuchi had a reputation for being clever and enjoying other people's minor misfortunes.

"Yeah. He took a liking to Aone, and before I knew it, whenever we were near the border, Futakuchi was there. It was a few years before we even knew he was a vampire." Oikawa finished packing, and Iwaizumi fell silent again as they headed back toward the barracks to fetch Kyoutani. "When Aone turned eighteen, Futakuchi told him he loved him. That he didn't want to watch Aone grow old and die, but Futakuchi didn't want a contract," Iwaizumi said, hesitating over the last word. Oikawa paused, gripping his bag's strap tightly as understanding flowed over him.

"Futakuchi tried to turn him," Oikawa whispered. Iwaizumi nodded grimly. Oikawa started to ask if it had worked. But then he realized: if it hadn't worked, which was possible but unlikely, Aone would have died a horrible, painful death, but Futakuchi would still be alive. "He succeeded, didn't he?"

"I was there," Iwaizumi replied, which was agreement enough for Oikawa. "It was horrible. But it worked. For a few days, everything was great. But then..."

"Only the highest-ranked vampires are allowed to turn humans," Oikawa murmured. "Anyone else who succeeds is executed."

"I was with them when the high ranking vampires came for them," Iwaizumi said, struggling to keep his voice steady. "I only survived because one of them thought it would be amusing to let the poor little defenseless human live to spread the word, so no humans would try to become vampires." Oikawa stared at the ground as they walked.

"So that's what gave you nightmares," he said after a while. Iwaizumi let out a shaky breath.

"Yeah. And it's why I learned how to fight, then became a vampire hunter and formed my own group."

"Is that also why you were willing to do anything to get Suga back?" Oikawa questioned. He saw Iwaizumi nod out of the corner of his eye. It made sense, Oikawa thought. Iwaizumi had lost one friend to vampires already, and probably blamed his own helplessness for it. And then to have lost Suga even temporarily because Suga was protecting Iwaizumi... Without thinking, Oikawa reached out and took Iwaizumi's hand. The hunter tensed and nearly tripped over his own feet, but managed to regain his balance and frown up at Oikawa questioningly, inadvertantly reminding the vampire that he was taller than the hunter. "You've comforted me plenty of times, Iwa-chan," Oikawa explained. "I'm just trying to return the favor, especially since you were so stiff earlier."

"Well, I spent the night on the floor with this big, pretty, whiny vampire using me as a bed," Iwaizumi replied, focusing on the conversation and pushing away the grief for his childhood companion that would probably never go away, and the lingering regret that always accompanied it. It was Oikawa's turn to trip over his own feet.

"Say that again?" he requested. Iwaizumi's frown deepened.

"You used me as a bed?"

"No, before that," Oikawa corrected.

"You're whiny?" Iwaizumi tried.

"Before that."

"You're big and heavier than you think you are?"

"After that," Oikawa snapped, deciding to ignore the comments on his height and weight. "You called me pretty."

"No, I didn't," Iwaizumi responded immediately. He hadn't said that, had he? Of course, he'd been thinking it for a while now, but he'd been careful not to say it. He couldn't have just let it slip out, right?

"Yes, you did," Oikawa insisted. When Iwaizumi turned to him to insist that _no,_ he hadn't, Oikawa suddenly remembered that his pout had been effective against Iwaizumi before and fixed the hunter with his best pouty, heartbroken look. "Are you saying you don't think I'm pretty?" he simpered. For a long moment, Iwaizumi stared at him, and he pouted at the hunter. Then Iwaizumi grinned widely, which Oikawa hadn't expected at all.

"You're back to normal, almost," Iwaizumi said, sounding incredibly pleased with himself. Oikawa huffed indignantly, then realized that, once again, he was rather enjoying his conversation with the vampire hunter. Iwaizumi was right, Oikawa decided. It wasn't perfect, and he was sure the nightmares weren't gone just because he'd had one good night's sleep, and the memories of Suguru were still fresh enough that Oikawa hoped Yahaba managed to dissolve the contract soon, but walking with Iwaizumi, talking, it felt...normal somehow. Oikawa remembered his resolution to make the best of the situation by teasing Iwaizumi for fun. Then he remembered that Iwaizumi had lulled him to sleep by playing with his hair _twice_ , and the vampire's gaze fell to where his fingers were still entwined with the hunter's.

"See? I told you Iwaizumi wouldn't just leave another of his followers here!" Hanamaki's voice rang out. Oikawa jerked his hand away from Iwaizumi's, because after Hanamaki finding out that Oikawa had slept beside or on top of Iwaizumi three times now, he did _not_ want Hanamaki to catch him _holding hands_ with the hunter. Iwaizumi sighed. Standing outside the barracks were Hanamaki, Matsukawa, Yahaba, and Kyoutani.

"Ready to go?" Iwaizumi asked.

Kyoutani nodded, then glanced at Yahaba and muttered something that sounded almost like "Tomorrow?" and got a slight smile and a nod of agreement from the blood mage. Interesting, Oikawa thought. But not interesting enough to stick around to question Yahaba, because that would give Makki and Mattsun a chance to question him about the sleeping-on-the-hunter thing.

"Take good care of him," Hanamaki said.

"If he comes back in worse shape than he's in now, you can get your vengeance once Yahaba dissolves the contract," Iwaizumi replied easily. Hanamaki blinked, then nodded in satisfaction.

"It's a shame you're a vampire hunter," Hanamaki announced. Iwaizumi wasn't sure what to make of that, so he just shrugged and turned to leave. Oikawa kept pace with him on one side, Kyoutani on the other.

"So when can I shoot something?" Oikawa asked.

"After you learn how to properly clean, load, unload, and carry a gun," Iwaizumi answered.

"Aw, Iwa-chan, that's no fun," Oikawa complained.

"He made Suga carry an unloaded gun for two weeks _and_ clean the entire group's weapons perfectly before he let him shoot," Kyoutani grumbled. Oikawa blinked. He'd forgotten that Suga had been in training to be a hunter before he ended up as Sawamura's contractor.

"Is he a good shot?" Oikawa wondered. Kyoutani shrugged.

"You know that freckled vampire?" Iwaizumi asked. Oikawa nodded.

"Yamaguchi? What about him?"

"You know that weird little tuft of hair that sticks up from his head?" Another nod from the vampire. "Suga could shoot the tuft of hair off without killing him." Oikawa paused.

"You said Makki and Mattsun are scary, but your friend Suga is terrifying. He even chastised Tsukishima and didn't get his head bitten off," Oikawa mused.

"Suga's good with people," Iwaizumi replied. "Always has been."

"How long after Aone died did you meet Suga?" Oikawa asked. Kyoutani glared around Iwaizumi, but Iwaizumi just sighed thoughtfully.

"About a year. Suga didn't start training to be a hunter until recently, though," he answered. Kyoutani stared from Iwaizumi to Oikawa as though he wasn't sure he recognized either of them anymore, stunned that the vampire even knew about Aone, let alone dared to actually mention him, and even more stunned that Iwaizumi had just...answered.

Oikawa was scary, Kyoutani decided. Maybe good for Iwaizumi, he amended, noticing the way Iwaizumi's eyes softened a little when he looked at the vampire, but still scary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for killing Aone. I really am.   
> I promise he will not die in the dragon AU.


	12. Consequence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I updated this fic! I had a really busy weekend, and I may or may not have spawned a coffee shop au with A_Sirens_Lullaby (We totally did you should check it out).

The other hunters were waiting anxiously at the border when Iwaizumi, Kyoutani, and Oikawa crossed back into human territory. Kunimi frowned when he saw the bite on Iwaizumi's neck.

"You need to remember to properly clean and bandage vampire bites," Kunimi murmured. Oikawa glanced at the wound on Iwaizumi's neck and shifted guiltily. Iwaizumi just shrugged.

"Is the vampire coming, too?" Kindaichi asked.

"Yes," Iwaizumi answered, his tone leaving no room for argument. Kindaichi and Kunimi exchanged unreadable glances, but didn't protest. Iwaizumi took the lead, and Oikawa followed him closely, a little wary of the other hunters despite the progress he'd made in not being as afraid of Iwaizumi. They were almost to the hunters' home when Kunimi suddenly reached out and grabbed Kindaichi's sleeve, pulling him to a stop. Kindaichi turned to ask what was wrong, then saw what had caught Kunimi's attention.

"Iwaizumi," Kindaichi said quietly.

"I know. Oikawa, you should stay close and try not to draw attention," Iwaizumi said. Oikawa frowned. It wasn't an order, so he wasn't forced to obey, but something in Iwaizumi's tone told him that whatever was going on was serious.

"What, do you think that if he stays quiet, I won't be able to sense him?" an unfamiliar voice asked. A man with spiked, reddish hair approached them, his gaze darting from Iwaizumi to the vampire beside him and back.

"What do you want, Tendou?" Iwaizumi demanded. The newcomer, Tendou, smirked.

"It's not about what I want. It's about what I can sense," he replied. "You've got a contracted vampire, and it's one of the ones whose blood was all over Suguru's place." Oikawa tensed, and Iwaizumi shifted so he was standing between Tendou and Oikawa.

"What about it?" Iwaizumi growled.

"I can prove that your vampire was involved in Suguru's death. That makes you responsible, even if you weren't obviously still letting the vampire trespass without consequences," Tendou replied. Iwaizumi scowled at him.

"Did you bring your friends with you, or are you just here to be annoying?" Iwaizumi asked. Oikawa tensed. This stranger had friends? That couldn't be good.

"Of course I brought my friends. I know your people would love to shoot me if I was alone," Tendou scoffed. As he spoke, movement from all sides announced the arrival of the rest of the hunter group Tendou belonged to. Oikawa paled, counting five more hunters.

"I never thought you would be one to keep a vampire around," the largest of the newcomers said. "Especially with Sugawara still missing."

"Suga isn't missing, and it's none of your business if I invite a vampire into human territory, Ushijima," Iwaizumi replied. "Since I invited him, he isn't trespassing, and since he's contracted to me, he won't attack any humans, so there's no reason for you to pay attention to him."

"Tendou already told you he found that vampire's blood near Suguru's body," Ushijima countered. "And Suguru was killed by a hunter's gun, which means you didn't just let him die, you killed him yourself." Iwaizumi didn't seem shocked that these people knew or had figured it out. Oikawa wondered if Iwaizumi had been expecting something like this to happen. The vampire wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but anyone could tell it wasn't good.

"Iwaizumi didn't kill Suguru. I did," Kyoutani said, stepping up to stand beside Iwaizumi, who glared at him.

"Kyoutani, no," Iwaizumi growled. "I shot Suguru because he was torturing vampires, one of which is under my protection. If you want to count that as me murdering another hunter, fine. But wait to decide what to do with me until after I can get the contract dissolved. None of what happened is the vampire's fault."

"That vampire is _under your protection_?" Tendou repeated, glancing at Oikawa incredulously. "Since when do you protect vampires?"

"None of your business. But if you agree to wait until I can get him out of the contract, I won't fight whatever punishment you decide," Iwaizumi promised. Oikawa froze. Punishment? And Iwaizumi was going to agree not to defend himself just to make sure Oikawa was freed first?

"You can't-" Kyoutani's protest died when Iwaizumi glared at him, and for once, Oikawa agreed with Kyoutani. Iwaizumi couldn't just...let them do whatever they wanted, right? What was the punishment for a hunter killing another hunter, anyway? Thinking of the penalty for creating new vampires, Oikawa shuddered.

"How soon can you get the contract dissolved?" Ushijima asked.

"I don't know. The vampires' blood mage is trying to figure out how to do it," Iwaizumi told him.

"I thought I sensed Yahaba around here," Tendou commented. Then he glanced at Ushijima. "Are we doing this?"

"It would be a problem if Iwaizumi decided to fight us," Ushijima replied quietly. "Iwaizumi. You'll accept any punishment we decide?"

"Yes. And none of my people will try to prevent it, either," Iwaizumi assured him. Kindaichi and Kyoutani scowled, but Iwaizumi kept them quiet with a single look. "All your group has to do is wait until I can free the vampire and get him safely into his own territory."

"How do we know we can trust that you'll cooperate, or even actually get rid of the vampire's contract?" one of Ushijima's hunters, a woman with eerie violet eyes, pointed out.

"Is my word not enough for you?" Iwaizumi demanded.

"You're one of the most skilled vampire hunters ever, and the hunters you personally trained are ready to shoot us just for suggesting you be punished. Why would we believe that you would give up on trying to get out of punishment just to save a vampire?" the hunter replied.

"Ringu, be polite," Ushijima warned. "Iwaizumi is an honorable hunter. If he says he'll cooperate with whatever we decide, then he will. However, perhaps we should put some sort of insurance policy in place." Ushijima scanned his own people, then nodded. "Ennoshita, go with them. Make sure they're making progress toward dissolving the contract," he ordered. One of the hunters stepped forward.

"We don't need a babysitter," Kyoutani growled. "Especially not him."

"It's fine," Iwaizumi said before any of Ushijima's hunters could take offense. "Let's go home." Tendou stepped aside, and Iwaizumi led his group toward their home, Ennoshita following them. No one spoke until they were out of earshot of Ushijima, Tendou, and the others. Kyoutani and Kindaichi glared at the ground, fists clenched. Watari and Kunimi were quiet, and they didn't look happy, either.

"What the fuck was that?" Oikawa blurted out, unable to stay quiet any longer. He'd kept silent during the entire conversation with Ushijima's group, but with only Ennoshita and Iwaizumi's followers there to hear, he stared at Iwaizumi and continued, "You're not actually going to let them punish you for saving me and Kageyama, are you?"

"There might not be a punishment," Iwaizumi replied. "And if there is, it probably won't be an execution. Suguru was a terrible person, and even if Ushijima feels like he has to punish Suguru's killer, it's out of a sense of duty, not personal vengeance," he added, glancing to Ennoshita for confirmation. Ennoshita nodded.

"We're all aware that Suguru was a terrible person. None of us are happy about this, except maybe Tendou, because he kept telling Ushijima he was sensing vampires in your hunting area, but Ushijima didn't believe him," he explained.

"But you'll do your duty anyway. How noble of you," Oikawa snapped, glaring at Ennoshita before returning his attention to Iwaizumi. "Suguru deserved worse than what he got," the vampire added bitterly. There was a pause, and then Ennoshita let out a surprised noise as Iwaizumi closed the distance between himself and Oikawa and gently wrapped his arms around the vampire. Oikawa found himself melting into the embrace, especially when Iwaizumi's hand came up to rest comfortingly on the back of Oikawa's head, until Iwaizumi spoke.

"It'll be okay. Whatever happens, you'll be safely back with Hanamaki and the others, and that's what matters," Iwaizumi murmured. "Even if Ushijima does decide I should be executed, everything will work out." Oikawa tensed and glared at the hunter.

"I'm pretty sure your devoted followers don't agree with that. And neither do I," Oikawa snapped. "Suga would be crushed, and I don't know if you realize this, but he's got half the border vampires wrapped around his finger, so he's not someone anyone in their right mind would want to get on the bad side of."

"Sugawara's alive? And with _border vampires_?" Ennoshita gaped at them. Oikawa ignored him.

"Iwa-chan, you're taking this whole protecting-me thing too far," the vampire announced, stepping out of the hunter's arms and crossing his own angrily. He glanced at the other hunters. "I know you promised to put me first or whatever, but leaving your little followers alone so you have more time to get me out of the contract isn't the solution," Oikawa insisted. Iwaizumi's expression hardened stubbornly, so Oikawa added quietly, "Did Futakuchi and Aone fight, or did they give up and accept their punishment?" The hunters were shocked out of their frustrated scowling at the ground, staring at Oikawa. Ennoshita seemed surprised, like he'd known about Aone, but hadn't expected Oikawa to. Iwaizumi took a step back, jaw clenched, and glared at Oikawa.

"This isn't the same situation," the hunter growled, something that might have been hurt in his eyes.

"Oh really? Well then explain to me how this situation is best solved by you potentially dying without even trying to prevent it," Oikawa shouted, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

"I told you, it probably won't be an execution-"

"But it's a possibility, and you just promised to go along with whatever they decide!" Oikawa reminded him through gritted teeth.

"You'll be back with your friends, so why do you care?" Iwaizumi snapped. Oikawa blinked, caught off guard. Why _did_ he care? Iwaizumi was someone Oikawa was beginning to trust a little, someone who had hurt Oikawa, but he had also taken care of him. Oikawa closed his eyes and for once, he didn't see the nightmare version of Iwaizumi, he saw the kind but firm Iwa-chan who had come all the way to the barracks twice to feed him when he didn't have to, who could get Oikawa to relax just by petting his hair. Oikawa took a shaky breath.

"You're right. Once the contract is dissolved, I'll be fine. So you can do whatever the hell you want to with your life after Yahaba figures out how to get rid of the damned thing," Oikawa spat. He stalked past Iwaizumi, toward the hunters' lair. Iwaizumi didn't turn, didn't call him back. Oikawa tried not to think about the way something in his chest clenched painfully when he realized that the hunter wasn't going to call him back. Instead, Oikawa broke into a run and leaped, catching the edge of a roof with his hands and hauling himself onto the roof. He paused, crouched at the edge, and looked over his shoulder. Iwaizumi was standing where Oikawa had left him, head down and fists clenched, shoulders tense. Oikawa's gaze fell on the bite mark that was still visible on Iwaizumi's neck as Kyoutani reached out toward the other hunter, only to stop and say something Oikawa couldn't hear. Oikawa turned and darted across the roof, heading for the hunters' lair.

When Oikawa arrived, he hesitated, then sat where he was. The sun had warmed the roof, so Oikawa laid back and stared up at the sky. Iwaizumi's words played through his mind over and over.

_"Whatever happens, you'll be safely back with Hanamaki and the others, and that's what matters."_

_"You'll be back with your friends, so why do you care?"_

"That's a good question, Iwa-chan," Oikawa murmured to himself. After all, he knew why Iwaizumi cared. The hunter felt guilty, and he was trying to do the right thing and make up for what he'd done. A nagging voice at the back of his mind that sounded disturbingly like Makki pointed out that guilt and trying to repay a debt didn't explain why Iwaizumi would go so far as to spend the night propped against a wall just because Oikawa fell asleep on him, but Oikawa pushed that thought away. It still didn't explain why Oikawa had been so upset by the deal Iwaizumi had made.

It was probably just because potentially being hurt or killed and not fighting it to protect him was something Hanamaki would do, and Oikawa would be devastated if Hanamaki - or anyone else - was hurt because of him.

Still, it didn't explain the way Oikawa felt his heart clench and twist when Iwaizumi promised not to fight whatever punishment Ushijima gave, just so Oikawa wouldn't be dragged down with him.

It didn't explain the way Oikawa had wanted to scream when Iwaizumi said that as long as he made sure Oikawa was safe, it didn't matter what happened to the hunter.

It didn't explain the way Oikawa had felt when he realized Iwaizumi wasn't going to stop him from leaving.

It shouldn't matter, not to Oikawa. Not to the vampire who just wanted to...

What did he want anymore? He wanted to be free, yes, but he wasn't sure he wanted to give up the way the hunter could calm him with his touch, and he didn't want to give up on the tentative trust for Iwaizumi that was starting to grow.

Oikawa realized suddenly that while he might still be nervous around Iwaizumi, he didn't want to give up the hunter. He didn't want to see Iwaizumi injured, or dead, because he'd killed Suguru for hurting Oikawa. He didn't want to see Iwaizumi hurt for any reason, come to think of it. Guilt pricked at him as he remembered Iwaizumi's expression when he'd brought up Aone. Oikawa grimaced. He'd have to apologize to Iwaizumi for that. But, he decided, sitting up and glaring in the direction of where the hunters were probably still making their way toward the house, he wasn't going to let Iwaizumi be punished for what Oikawa firmly believed was the right action.

If Iwaizumi was so determined to let himself be punished just because it would be after Oikawa was safe, then Oikawa was going to save Iwaizumi, too. For a second, Oikawa wondered if he could do it alone. But then he remembered the way Iwaizumi's hunters had looked, and remembered that he wasn't the only one who wanted to save Iwaizumi. Oikawa wasn't sure he trusted those hunters, and they definitely didn't trust him, but Oikawa was sure that for Iwaizumi, they'd figure out how to work together, at least temporarily.

And if they asked why Oikawa cared, the way Iwaizumi did...

Oikawa wasn't sure he could explain it. He didn't think there were words for how the hunter made him feel despite his fear. Or at least, not words that wouldn't have consequences if they were applied to this situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For extra angst and feels, listen to "Little Do You Know" by Alex & Sierra and think about this AU.


	13. Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I updated twice in one night. Am I forgiven for my lack of updates the last few days?

Iwaizumi didn't speak the whole way home. He didn't respond when Kyoutani quietly said that Oikawa was right, and Iwaizumi shouldn't just sit back and accept his fate. But Iwaizumi didn't know what else he could do. He had to make sure that if anything happened, Oikawa at least would be free and safe. He couldn't hurt Oikawa any more than he already had.

The vampire's face flashed before him, eyes wide with surprise and something that might have been a little bit of fear and hurt. Iwaizumi regretted snapping at him; for whatever reason, Oikawa had been trying to persuade him not to let himself be hurt. But the confusion and pain that had swirled with the anger in the vampire's expression as he passed Iwaizumi and left the group made the hunter believe he'd asked a very important question.

Why _did_ Oikawa care?

Iwaizumi told his hunters to rest and make sure Ennoshita settled in, then went in search of the vampire. He wasn't sure that Oikawa was in the house, but since he'd been going in this direction when he left, Iwaizumi was hopeful. Oikawa wasn't in Iwaizumi's room, or Suga's, or the infirmary. Iwaizumi sighed and went out into the back yard, remembering that the night Oikawa had tracked him to this place, he'd been waiting on the roof in ambush.

For a moment, Iwaizumi stood there, turning over his own question in his mind again. Why did Oikawa care? Was it the contract that made him care? Or was he beginning to trust Iwaizumi? Iwaizumi sighed, deciding that it didn't matter why Oikawa cared, at least not right now. What mattered was that Oikawa did care, and Iwaizumi's deal with Ushijima hadn't just upset his hunters, it had upset the vampire that he was trying desperately to protect.

"Damn it," Iwaizumi sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He just wanted to protect the people he cared about, but it felt like every time he tried to protect them, either it made things worse, or hurt someone else. "Damn it all." He tilted his head back and paused. A familiar silhouette was leaning over the edge of the roof. Iwaizumi blinked.

"Did your hunters talk you out of it?" Oikawa asked, staring down at him, expression made unreadable by the way the light and shadows played across his features.

"I'm sorry," Iwaizumi said. It wasn't an answer, but Oikawa seemed to understand. Iwaizumi hadn't changed his mind. The vampire sighed, then launched himself off the roof, twisting in the air and landing in a crouch in front of Iwaizumi, just like the first night he'd tracked the hunter there, then stood and pushed Iwaizumi backwards, until the hunter's back hit the wall. Iwaizumi blinked, but didn't fight back. There was no threat, no malice in the vampire's movements.

"I'm going to find a way to make sure they don't hurt you," Oikawa said, determination shining in his eyes. Iwaizumi stared at him, unsure if he'd heard correctly. "I'm not going to let you get hurt for saving me. Actually, I'm not planning to let you get hurt period," he admitted. Iwaizumi hesitated, realizing he'd been wrong when he decided it didn't matter why Oikawa cared. Because this wasn't a side effect of the contract. He wasn't sure what it was, but the vampire was too determined for this to be something he was magically pushed into. The hunter lifted his hand, gently cupped Oikawa's cheek. For an instant, he was afraid the vampire would pull away, but he didn't.

"Why do you care so much?" Iwaizumi asked quietly. Instead of confusion, or hurt, or anything Iwaizumi might have expected, Oikawa's eyes softened and he smiled a little.

"I don't know. Why do you?" the vampire replied, amused. Iwaizumi started to tell him it was to make up for everything, but he realized with the words halfway formed that it was a lie. He cared because Oikawa had put on a brave face, had tried to solve the problem of the contract before anyone found out, but Iwaizumi had seen clearly that first night, when Oikawa was hunched against the wall, his emotions curling him up while he'd waited for Iwaizumi. He cared because Iwaizumi had reveled in the softness of Oikawa's hair, but also in the way Oikawa had melted at his touch. He cared because when he saw Oikawa laying bleeding on Sugur's floor, he'd been furious - with Suguru for hurting Oikawa, but also with himself for not noticing when Oikawa left, for not somehow preventing what had happened. He cared because the way Oikawa had been so afraid of him made his heart break, because Oikawa tried so hard to be strong, to handle things himself, even going so far as to keep himself from sleeping instead of talking about his nightmares. He cared because damn it, this vampire was unfairly pretty, and when he was happy, his dramatic expressions - even his pouting and simpering - stirred something warm and protective in Iwaizumi's chest. He cared because the discomfort in his chest when he was at his group's base and Oikawa was all the way in vampire territory had nothing to do with the contract magic anymore.

"I don't know what I'm going to do when Yahaba dissolves the contract," Iwaizumi whispered, gently drawing his thumb along Oikawa's cheek. It wasn't an explanation of why he cared, but it was the best he could do. Oikawa hesitated, then leaned into the hunter's touch.

"Then maybe we should tell Yahaba to stop trying," Oikawa replied. "You only agreed to not resist Ushijima's punishment once our contract is dissolved, right? So if Yahaba doesn't get rid of it, then you don't have to let them hurt you."

"That wouldn't be right," Iwaizumi sighed. "You should be free, and I won't use you to get out of facing the consequences of my actions."

"You're going to hurt your hunters," Oikawa told him. "You must have seen how crushed Kindaichi was when you made that deal. And Kyoutani tried to take the blame, because as angry as he is, even I can see how much he and the others look up to you and care about you."

"You looked plenty hurt, too," Iwaizumi said quietly. Oikawa closed his eyes.

"I don't like other people being hurt because of me. And I'm trying to work on not being afraid of you, so it would be really frustrating for me to finally be able to move on from the Suguru incident, only for you to be hurt or killed because of it. The whole thing happened because I smelled vampire blood, and didn't trust you enough to tell you. I wanted to handle it myself, because I didn't trust you near an injured vampire," he admitted.

"Well, considering what happened when you were injured, I can't blame you," Iwaizumi replied. Oikawa lowered his head, resting his forehead on Iwaizumi's as he sighed in exasperation.

"That damned understanding of yours is part of why I care," the vampire said. "Even right after I tried to kill you, and you were trying to use me to get Suga back, and I was terrified and wanted nothing more than for this to be over, you tried to be understanding and comforting, even though you apparently had no idea what you'd really done." There was a moment of quiet between them, and then Oikawa whispered, "I'm sorry. I tried to use your memories of Aone and Futakuchi to make you change your mind."

"And after you've told me that it's none of my business if you're sleeping or taking care of yourself," Iwaizumi mused. "How hypocritical." Oikawa laughed a little.

"Maybe. But you never told me not to worry about you, so..."

"I promised not to give you any orders, remember? I won't tell you what to do," Iwaizumi reminded him.

"Your habit of keeping your promises is what got us into this whole punishment mess," Oikawa sighed. Another moment of silence settled over them, but neither was uncomfortable with it. They just stood there, foreheads pressed together, Iwaizumi's hand still on Oikawa's cheek. Oikawa reveled in the quiet contact for a few heartbeats, turning a question over in his mind. Iwaizumi had asked about orders like the ones Matsukawa gave to Hanamaki when Makki was upset or ready to do something dangerous. "Hey, Iwa-chan?"

"Hm?"

"If you could give me any one order, what would it be?" Oikawa asked before he could reconsider. Iwaizumi stiffened, his fingers on Oikawa's cheek twitching in surprise. Oikawa waited, breath caught in his throat, as Iwaizumi processed the question, then considered his answer. One order? There was so much he wanted to tell Oikawa to do: to stay safe, to take better care of himself, to listen to Hanamaki when the other vampire was trying to take care of him, to let Iwaizumi take care of him, to be happy. Finally, the hunter settled on a response.

"I would tell you to do whatever will make you feel safe and happy," Iwaizumi told him softly. Oikawa let out a quiet laugh.

"You're a strange human, Iwa-chan," the vampire announced.

"Is that a bad thing?" Iwaizumi questioned.

"If it was, I wouldn't be standing this close to you," Oikawa answered. At that, Iwaizumi seemed to realize exactly how close Oikawa actually was and blushed. Oikawa seemed to have a similar realization and stepped back. "Are you still going to teach me how to shoot?" Oikawa asked, changing the topic abruptly. Iwaizumi nodded.

"Let's go inside, and I'll show you how to take care of a gun first," he suggested. Oikawa agreed, and the two walked into the house. They sat at the table for almost two hours, as Iwaizumi walked Oikawa through the steps of unloading, disassembling, cleaning, reassembling, and loading his gun.

The first time Oikawa tried to fire the thing, he yelped at the noise, flinched away from the kickback, and completely missed the target Iwaizumi had set up. Iwaizumi calmly adjusted Oikawa's stance and grip with gentle touches, guiding him into place. By the time Iwaizumi suggested they take a break, Oikawa had hit the target all of three times.

"I think something here is rigged," Oikawa complained. Iwaizumi chuckled and held his hand out for the gun. Oikawa handed it over willingly enough, watching the hunter curiously.

"If I hit the target dead center on my first shot, will that prove that it's not rigged?" he asked. Oikawa tilted his head thoughtfully.

"I suppose it might," the vampire conceded. Iwaizumi grinned, then turned, lifted the gun, and fired with barely a second to aim. The target rocked, and when Oikawa walked over to check it, he found a hole in the exact center. "You could have cheated somehow," Oikawa said.

"What if I can do it again?" Iwaizumi asked.

"If you can manager it a second time, I'll agree it's not rigged," the vampire replied. He went back to Iwaizumi and watched as the hunter brought his weapon up a second time and fired. They went to check the target together, and found the hole from the first bullet enlarged by the impact of the second. "All right, you win," Oikawa announced. He turned toward the hunter and froze in place, realizing Iwaizumi was a lot closer than he'd thought. Oikawa stared down into the hunter's face, processing the realization that while he had tensed with surprise, he wasn't afraid, even though Iwaizumi had gotten so close without Oikawa noticing. In the absence of fear, something warm and pleasant rose.

"So what do I win?" Iwaizumi said playfully.

"Who says you win anything?" Oikawa countered.

"You said if I can hit the middle a second time, I win," Iwaizumi reminded him. Oikawa raised an eyebrow and hummed thoughtfully.

"I suppose I did say that," the vampire mused. "Well, what do you want for your prize?"

"Are you sleeping in my room tonight?" Iwaizumi asked.

"Isn't Ennoshita taking Suga's room? I assumed I'd be sleeping in yours," Oikawa answered. "Why?" Iwaizumi regarded him solemnly.

"Then for my prize, can I play with your hair tonight?" he asked, face and tone completely serious. Oikawa blinked, then laughed and threw his arms around the hunter's neck without thinking.

"Of course, Iwa-chan," he agreed cheerfully.

That night, when Iwaizumi climbed into bed, he wordlessly held the covers up so Oikawa could slide beneath them. Oikawa did so as casually as though they'd been sleeping in the same bed for ages, instead of just a few nights. Oikawa didn't cuddle up to the hunter, instead settling on his side, close enough for Iwaizumi to reach out and stroke his hair. Oikawa drifted off to sleep, lulled by the gentle movement of Iwaizumi's fingers in his hair.


	14. Kiss

Oikawa woke sprawled across Iwaizumi's chest, and he considered shifting his weight off of the hunter, but he was too comfortable to move. A knock at the door made Oikawa jolt, and Iwaizumi startled awake with a grunt when Oikawa's elbow somehow found its way into Iwaizumi's stomach. They scrambled to get up and answer the knock at the door, only to trip over each other and end up in a heap on the floor, Iwaizumi on top of Oikawa and rather redfaced about it considering they'd spent the night in the same bed. For a moment they were both quiet, stunned. Then Oikawa laughed and tilted his head, intending to say something witty, only for Iwaizumi to shift to look down and ask if he was all right at the same time. The result was their foreheads and noses bumping together. Oikawa laughed again and tilted his head back so his nose was out of the way of Iwaizumi's without realizing that this motion would bring their lips together instead.

They both froze, lips pressed together and eyes wide, too surprised to move away. Then Oikawa's eyes fluttered closed, and his lips softened against Iwaizumi's as he leaned up into the contact. Iwaizumi let out a soft noise of surprise, but then he was moving his mouth gently over Oikawa's. Another knock at the door made them startle and break apart, and Iwaizumi scrambled off of Oikawa, who sat up, watching the hunter. Iwaizumi went to the door and opened it.

"What is it, Watari?" Iwaizumi asked, hoping that the heat in his cheeks wasn't obvious. Watari decided to politely pretend that he couldn't see that Iwaizumi was blushing furiously.

"Yahaba showed up and took Kyoutani," Watari said. "He said he found some werewolves, so you two should meet them at the border."

"Why did he take Kyoutani?" Iwaizumi asked.

"Probably because he wanted someone big and scowly to glare at the wolves," Oikawa suggested, joining Iwaizumi at the door. "Did he say which werewolves we're meeting?" Iwaizumi wondered briefly how Oikawa could look so composed, when Iwaizumi was pretty sure his face was still red.

"Nope, but you should probably hurry," Watari replied. "Ennoshita heard, and you know his job is to make sure we're making progress." Watari didn't look happy about it, but there was a determined set to his jaw.

"Well, then, Iwa-chan should get ready. Watari, could I talk to you and the others for a minute?" Iwaizumi frowned at Oikawa, but the vampire ignored him and stepped past him out the door. "Come along, Watari," he added, and the hunter followed without question. Once they were out of earshot of Iwaizumi's room, Oikawa stopped and murmured, "I know Kyoutani's out, but I need to talk to you and Kindaichi and Kunimi. I don't want Iwa-chan getting punished any more than you do." Within minutes, the three hunters and the vampire were in Kunimi's infirmary, as far from the closed door as they could get.

"We know that Ushijima and the others don't actually _want_ to hurt Iwaizumi. We just have to give them a reason not to," Kindaichi said quietly.

"Apparently, arguing that Suguru deserved what he got won't work," Watari added. "I tried to persuade Ennoshita, and he just said that if Iwaizumi thought Suguru should be punished, he should have brought him to the other hunters so he could be judged and sentenced properly."

"So Ushijima needs a strong incentive to spare Iwa-chan," Oikawa mused. He studied the three hunters. "If Yahaba figures out how to dissolve my contract after meeting with the werewolves today, how long do you think it will be before they come after Iwa-chan to hold up his end of the bargain?"

"Not very long," Kunimi said quietly. "Especially with Tendou so enthusiastic about it."

"That guy isn't even a proper mage, but he's got his own set of powers that are kind of terrifying," Kindaichi explained. "He can sense magic, and non-humans, but he can't scry like Kunimi, or heal, or use blood magic, or anything else. He's some weird kind of human-mage hybrid." Oikawa tilted his head thoughtfully.

"So if we can scare Tendou off, and give Ushijima a reason to forget about the whole thing..."

"Then Iwaiumi would be safe, yes," Watari agreed. "Do you have a suggestion?"

"You three find a way to handle Ennoshita and Iwa-chan, and if Yahaba does manage to get rid of my contract, I'll handle the creepy hybrid guy and his boss," Oikawa replied. The hunters exchanged wary looks. "I know you don't trust me. I don't trust you, either. But I'm not going to let Iwa-chan be punished for saving me. So either help me, or at least stay out of my way."

"We'll help," Kindaichi said firmly. "Watari, can you handle Ennoshita?"

"He thinks I'm trying to get on hie good side so he'll convince Ushijima to let Iwaizumi go," Watari replied. "I'll handle him just fine."

"Kunimi and I will probably be asked to stay here, or go on patrol," Kindaichi sighed. "We'll stay as close as we can, and we can always try to take Iwaizumi and run if we have to."

"Get close to the border," Oikawa advised. "If Iwaizumi is stubborn and goes to Ushijima after the contract is dissolved - if it's dissolved - then you two need to try to keep him as close to the border as possible."

"Oikawa, are you ready to go?" Iwaizumi asked, opening the infirmary door and leaning in. "What's going on in here?"

"Just telling your hunters how happy I'll be if Yahaba can get this contract removed today," Oikawa replied cheerfully, hurrying to Iwaizumi's side. "Let's go!" Before Iwaizumi could question him, Oikawa grabbed his hand and towed him out of the house.

"Oikawa, about this morning..." Iwaizumi said once they were away from the hunters' home. Oikawa slowed his pace and glanced at him. Iwaizumi's cheeks were red.

"You mean the part where we accidentally kissed?" Oikawa asked. He had been focusing on the wolves, on recruiting Iwaizumi's hunters to the cause of saving Iwaizumi, and hadn't let himself think much about it. Now, though... The vampire thought back to the gentle press of Iwaizumi's lips against his own, and decided that he had definitely enjoyed it, and he wanted more. Oh. Maybe that was part of why he was so adamant about saving Iwaizumi, he realized. Beyond how Iwaizumi's touch could calm him, beyond how loyal and strong the hunter was, there was that feeling Oikawa hadn't wanted to name the day before, when he was on the roof, because of what it would mean.

"It wasn't an accident at the end," Iwaizumi replied quietly. Oikawa nodded slowly.

"You're right. Do you regret it?" Oikawa questioned. Iwaizumi stopped walking completely, and Oikawa stopped, too, facing him.

"No, I don't." The hunter's words were calm, but his cheeks were flushing again.

"Neither do I," Oikawa replied. Iwaizumi stepped closer, and Oikawa studied him.

"Can I kiss you again?" Iwaizumi asked. Oikawa nodded wordlessly. Iwaizumi gently reached up and gently brushed his fingertips along Oikawa's jaw, tilting his head and leaning up to bring their lips together. Oikawa pressed into the kiss, reveling in the warmth and softness of the hunter's mouth. Iwaizumi pulled back too soon, and Oikawa considered glaring at him or just leaning down and taking a deeper, more satisfying kiss, but the hunter murmured, "We shouldn't keep Yahaba and his werewolf friends waiting." Which reminded Oikawa that they were supposed to be on their way to potentially dissolve the contract between them. The vampire sighed and followed the hunter toward the border, thoughts spinning. Even if Iwaizumi was determined to free him, the vampire wasn't sure he really wanted to have the contract dissolved anymore. Besides the bonus of Iwaizumi not being punished by Ushijima that had led to Oikawa originally suggesting not having Yahaba dissolve their contract even if he could, Oikawa was starting to think that maybe it would actually be nice to stay with Iwaizumi longer.

Shouts and snarls caught Oikawa's attention as they approached the border. He exchanged a wary glance with Iwaizumi, and together they ran toward the noise.

"I don't care what Yahaba says, you don't look like anything but a human punk!" Oikawa recognized that voice an instant before the source of the noise came into view. Tanaka, the loudest and most aggressive of the border vampires.

"Well, I could still punch your fangs out!" taunted someone Oikawa didn't know, but from the way he was hunching his shoulder in an imitation of hackles rising, Oikawa was pretty sure that the man Tanaka was practically nose to nose with was a werewolf. There was a surprisingly small wolf with mostly black fur and a few splashes of yellow on his forehead, muzzle, and chest snarling and bouncing around the pair, snapping at Tanaka's heels before bouncing back to stand beside the werewolf. Nearby, a very large man who looked very stressed out was watching the situation with what was approaching _sheer terror_ on his face.

"If you two don't stop right now, I'm going to have to separate you like bickering children," Yahaba threatened from where he stood beside the large, terrified man. Kyoutani was standing between Yahaba and the growling trio, shoulders tense and hand resting on his gun.

"Why don't you try it?" the werewolf in human form snarled. The little wolf at his side yapped in what was probably agreement. Yahaba reached for his knife, ready to draw blood - probably from himself, but with Kyoutani standing there, he was probably just as convenient - to use against them.

"Tanaka, I will tell Sawamura and Sugawara about this if you don't behave _right now_ ," Yahaba warned, lifting his blade. The vampire hesitated at that. The werewolf jeered. "Yamamoto, Kyoutani's gun is loaded with silver, and don't think he won't shoot you."

"Not afraid of you, or your pet vampire hunter," the werewolf - Yamamoto, apparently - growled.

"You should be," Iwaizumi spoke up. "I don't know what all Yahaba can do, but Kyoutani's my second for a reason." The three aggressive ones froze and turned to face the hunter.

"You're not so tough," Tanaka growled. "You had to hide behind using Oikawa as a hostage a few days ago."

"You're just a human," Yamamoto added. "Even with a fancy gun, we can take you." The little wolf snarled. Oikawa stepped up beside Iwaizumi.

"Enough, Tanaka. We didn't call the werewolves here so you could try to fight them." Tanaka scowled, but stepped away from the werewolves. "And I know werewolves fight in packs, but I thought someone as aggressive as you would be able to handle a challenge without a puppy helping them," Oikawa added casually. Yamamoto's rumbling growl broke off into an indignant yelp that sounded strange coming from a seemingly human throat, especially when it was echoed by a nearly identical sound from the actual wolf beside him. This was what Oikawa did best; handling his fellow non-humans, manipulating situations toward the outcome he wanted. Hm. Maybe he could try his skills on Ushijima's crew if his current plan to save Iwaizumi didn't work out the way he wanted.

"Oikawa. Glad you could make it," Yahaba greeted him, relief evident in the way his shoulders slumped as he put his knife away. "This is Azumane Asahi, Nishinoya Yuu, and Yamamoto Taketora of the Eastern Sunrise Pack. Their leader couldn't come in person, but he sent these three because he supposedly has friends among the vampires."

"Which one is which?" Iwaizumi asked under his breath. Oikawa scanned the werewolves. He knew which one Yamamoto was, because Yahaba had used his name earlier, but between the other two, he wasn't sure. Before he could guess, Yamamoto spoke.

"This is Noya. That's Asahi," the werewolf said, gesturing to the little wolf beside him and then to the large man beside Yahaba in turn.

"Yahaba, you just need a little blood from one of them, right? I could-"

"Tanaka, no," Oikawa and Yahaba snapped in unison. Tanaka glared at them sullenly.

"Azumane has already agreed to help," Yahaba said. "Iwaizumi, Oikawa, if you could come over here, we'll get this done before Yamamoto and Tanaka try to tear each other to pieces again." The hunter and the vampire went over to the blood mage. "Now, Azumane..." The werewolf lifted his arm, and Yahaba drew his knife once more, this time just pricking the werewolf's skin enough to draw a fwe drops of blood. Yahaba swiped the blood up and turned to Iwaizumi. Another prick and another few drops of blood later, Yahaba closed his eyes and let out a thoughtful hum as he evaluated the blood in his fingers. "Congratluations, Iwaizumi," Yahaba announced as he opened his eyes. "You're part werewolf, which means I should be able to dissolve the contract now." The blood mage wiped his hands off on Kyoutani's shirt - the hunter didn't even try to dodge, he just gave Yahaba a flat, unimpressed look - then reached for Oikawa, who stepped back.

"No," Oikawa said quietly.

"Oikawa," Iwaizumi sighed. He almost added, _"Don't do this,"_ but he stopped himself. Even if Oikawa was going to be difficult, Iwaizumi wasn't going to break his promise not to give the vampire orders. "Please don't make this harder on everyone," he said instead. Oikawa met his gaze stubbornly, and Iwaizumi saw the vampire's relief as he realized that as determined as Iwaizumi was to follow though on his deal with Ushijima, the vampire hunter wasn't going to break his promise in what could very well be the last moments of their contract.

"Oikawa, what...?" Yahaba trailed off as Oikawa turned his attention to the blood mage.

"I don't want you to dissolve the contract," Oikawa said flatly.


	15. Contract

"Is this about that deal Iwaizumi made?" Yahaba asked. Oikawa and Iwaizumi stared at him. "Kyoutani told me," he explained. "Now, Oikawa, you've got to have a better plan than that. I know you, remember? So let me get you out of this contract, because no matter what you and Iwaizumi decide after we flawlessly execute whatever plan you have, I can't let you stay in a contract that started without your consent."

"Oikawa, please just let him dissolve the contract, then go home," Iwaizumi urged. "I'll be fine. I told you, Ushijima isn't going to kill me."

"You don't know that," Oikawa replied.

"I notice you don't deny having a backup plan," Yahaba commented. Oikawa huffed indignantly.

"I won't say anything else about it with Iwa-chan here, because he'll scowl at me all disapprovingly," the vampire announced. Iwaizumi scowled anyway.

"Then let's get this contract dissolved," Yahaba replied. This time, when the blood mage reached for him, Oikawa didn't move away. Yahaba's palm rested gently on Oikawa's chest, and the tingle of magic swept over Oikawa and Iwaizumi. Unlike the last time Yahaba had tried to end the contract, Oikawa felt lighter after the sensation of the magic faded, and he realized with a start that he didn't like how much less grounded his body felt without the contract magic.

"Are you going to go to Ushijima now?" Oikawa asked quietly, turning to Iwaizumi. The hunter smiled reassuringly and held his arms out in an almost hopeful manner. It was all Oikawa could do to keep himself from falling into the hunter's embrace. As it was, Iwaizumi found himself taking a step back to keep his balance as the vampire clung to him. Oikawa had a plan, yes, and he hoped desperately that it would work, but he couldn't guarantee anything. For all he knew, when Iwaizumi left, he would never see the hunter again. Oikawa pressed his mouth against the side of Iwaizumi's neck, not opening his lips or baring his fangs to bite, just nuzzling silently for a few moments. Iwaizumi brought one hand up to the back of Oikawa's head, fingers curling into the vampire's hair, and his other hand pulled Oikawa closer against his chest.

"I'll be okay, I promise," Iwaizumi murmured. "And once this whole punishment thing is over, you and I need to sit down and talk. If you want, that is."

"That would be good. After I save you from Ushijima, anyway," Oikawa added, trying for a playful tone as he stepped back. He glanced at Kyoutani. "Keep him safe until I can get my plan in motion, okay? The others should be near the border."

"You don't have to tell me to protect him," Kyoutani grumbled.

"Can we do anything else to help?" the largest werewolf offered nervously.

"We can handle this," Yahaba replied. "Thank you, though. You should return to your pack." Yamamoto scowled.

"What, you think you're too good for our help?"

"You don't actually want to help, and your pack is trying to maintain good relations with vampires and humans, so you should stay out of this. Hopefully, there won't be an actual fight, so you would just be bored, anyway," Oikawa pointed out. The aggressive werewolf seemed somewhat mollified by this, and ducked his head in what might have been respect.

"Good luck with whatever you're doing," he said. Then the three of them were gone, the two in human form shifting to their wolf forms and racing away, the smallest of the three racing ahead. Oikawa glanced at Iwaizumi and Kyoutani, who looked like they were ready to leave. Kyoutani locked gazes with Yahaba, who raised an eyebrow in what Oikawa would have interpreted as a challenge. A moment later, Kyoutani stalked over to the blood mage, reached up, and with surprising gentleness, pulled Yahaba down into a brief kiss. Oikawa blinked and exchanged bewildered looks with Iwaizumi.

"I can't believe I missed that," Oikawa commented.

"Well, you were a little preoccupied," Yahaba replied lightly when he and Kyoutani separated. Kyoutani grumbled something under his breath, then walked past Iwaizumi, heading back toward human territory.

Oikawa tilted his head, wondering if he'd heard Kyoutani correctly, because there was no way the hunter had told Iwaizumi to "kiss your vampire so we can go already". Whether that was what Kyoutani had said or not, Iwaizumi took Oikawa's hand and gave him one last reassuring smile.

"Please don't get yourself hurt with whatever plan you've got in motion," Iwaizumi said quietly, lowering his head and lifting Oikawa's hand. The hunter brushed his lips over the back of the vampire's hand, then straightened. "See you soon." Oikawa nodded, unsure what to say, unaware that his cheeks were flushing bright red. Iwaizumi chuckled, then turned and followed Kyoutani.

"So, what's the plan?" Yahaba asked. Oikawa gave the blood mage a blank stare for a second, then shook himself and bared his fangs.

"We're going to get ourselves a bodyguard, a garrison, and a sharpshooter," Oikawa replied cheerfully. Yahaba's eyes widened in surprise. Then he grinned.

"I knew you'd think of something," the blood mage commented.

\-----

"We have to do something," Kyoutani growled, glaring at Ushijima's hunters as they surrounded Iwaizumi.

"We've already done everything we can," Watari said quietly. "We got them to agree to keep this close to the vampire border, but to do that, we had to swear not to interfere. So we have to wait and see what happens." Kyoutani clenched his fists, and Kindaichi bit his lip worriedly.

"Iwaizumi Hajime, we've decided what your punishment for - "

"Punishment? For keeping a high-born vampire from being tortured and killed by a hunter? I thought you were smarter than that, Ushijima," a voice that everyone recognized announced coldly. The hunters turned and stared as Sugawara Koushi stalked toward them, a terrifyingly polite smile fixed on his face as he approached Ushijima.

"You're alive?" one of Ushijima's hunters gasped.

"I told you he was," Ennoshita sighed.

"I'm alive, and you know what I've learned? You shouldn't mess with people vampires are attached to," Suga announced, gesturing slightly to indicate the surprising number of vampires who were following him. Sawamura walked at Suga's shoulder, and Tanaka, Hinata, and Kageyama were behind them, wearing matching scowls. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were a few steps behind. Trailing after them, looking rather pleased with himself, was Oikawa, flanked by Hanamaki and Yahaba. "And there are a surprising number of vampires who would like to thank Iwaizumi for rescuing one of their border guards and one of their high-born nobles from Suguru. The fact that you apparently allowed a hunter to hold a vampire captive and torture him for weeks and are now trying to punish the one who killed the torturer doesn't sit well with these vampires."

"He's right, you know," Sawamura commented, crossing his arms and giving his best Commander scowl. Several of Ushijima's hunters shrank back when faced with Suga's bright smile and Sawamura's dark glare. "With his actions in handling Suguru, and what he's done for our local noble since then, Iwaizumi has earned a measure of respect that you and your hunters can never hope to match. Even the lord of the southeastern edge of vampire territory, Kuroo, has probably heard about this by now." Oikawa grimaced at the mention of Kuroo, but then he made his way to the front of the group of vampires, Makki shadowing him.

"Let's put it this way," Oikawa said calmly, walking right up to Ushijima, placing himself between him and Iwaizumi. "Iwa-chan is  _mine_ , and I will  _not_ let anything happen to him."

"You're not contracted anymore," Tendou protested, studying Oikawa in confusion. 

"No, I'm not. Now you're going to drop the issue of Suguru's death, and leave Iwa-chan alone, or it won't just be me you'll be dealing with," Oikawa informed him. Ushijima stared down at him for a long moment. Then there was a crack and a rush of air, and Ushijima's hunters froze. Ushijima slowly raised his hand to his neck. A moment later, he lifted his fingers, and they were stained with blood. Someone had shot at Ushijima, and the bullet had just barely nicked the skin on the side of his neck, just enough to draw blood, but not enough to cause any lasting damage. There was a moment of utter silence. Then, in unison, everyone turned to stare at Sugawara, who still had the gun in his hand pointing in Ushijima's direction.

"Suga, that was entirely unnecessary," Sawamura said faintly. 

"Of course it was necessary. It's always good to remind people that I hit exactly what I want to, and only what I want to," Suga replied calmly, his polite smile still in place. "Just in case they thought that contracting a vampire might have made me slack off on my target practice."

"Sugawara is scary," Hinata whispered, wide-eyed. Beside him, Tanaka and Kageyama nodded silently in agreement.

"The shooting was unnecessary," Ushijima stated. "As much as I hate to agree with the vampire. After seeing how the border guards regard you, Iwaizumi, I have decided that we should not offend them and risk worsening relations between our species." Oikawa smiled smugly and turned to face Iwaizumi, who was staring at him in astonishment.

"Your plan was to get Suga to terrify them into submission?" Iwaizumi said, shaking his head. 

"It worked," Oikawa replied with a shrug. "Let's go, Iwa-chan." He waved to the border vampires, then took Iwaizumi's hand and towed him away from the others. Iwaizumi followed willingly enough, though he hesitated when he realized where Oikawa was leading him. "You said we needed to talk, right? What better place?" Oikawa asked. Iwaizumi sighed and nodded, then followed Oikawa until they were standing on the roof where Iwaizumi had first shot and then contracted Oikawa. 

"Oikawa..." Iwaizumi started, trailing off when Oikawa turned and met his gaze.

"I don't want to lose you, Iwa-chan," Oikawa said quietly. "I know you'll probably go back to being a vampire hunter, and I'm supposed to want to go back to being a normal noble and..." Iwaizumi took his hand and lifted it to his lips, gently kissing the vampire's knuckles.

"I don't want to lose you, either," Iwaizumi replied. "I've gotten used to not being able to breathe when I wake up because of the big, pretty vampire sprawled on top of me." 

"I should probably be offended by that," Oikawa mused. "But I've gotten used to using you as a pillow. Or a bed." There was a pause, and then Oikawa said quietly, "You're going to get old eventually, Iwa-chan. Humans always do, unless they have a contract with a vampire." Oikawa took a deep breath, then stepped closer to Iwaizumi and dropped his head until the vampire's forehead was resting on the hunter's shoulder. "I know what Makki was talking about, now. I don't want you to leave me, Iwa-chan."

"I don't want to leave you, either," Iwaizumi answered. 

"Then make a new contract with me," Oikawa blurted out. He waited, tense, as Iwaizumi considered this.

"Is that what you want?" the hunter asked. 

"Yes. I trust you, and if the price of your life is a my freedom, I'll gladly pay it. But recently...I haven't even felt like I'm being confined. I've just been feeling less and less scared, the more time I spend with you. I want to stay with you," Oikawa said softly. "It hasn't been that long since Yahaba dissolved our original contract, but I feel too light, like I might float away. I want to make a contract with you, Iwa-chan."

"I want that, too," Iwaizumi admitted. "But even if it hadn't been for the trouble with Ushijima, I would have wanted Yahaba to dissolve that contract. Because it wasn't something you chose." Iwaizumi looked down to where he still held Oikawa's hand and gently rubbed his thumb over the vampire's fingers. "This, you choosing of your own free will to stay with me, is what I wanted." Oikawa leaned against him and nuzzled at the hunter's neck.

"Today's my day to feed," Oikawa murmured. Iwaizumi slid his arms around the vampire's waist.

"Do you know how to make a contract on purpose?" he asked.

"I do," Oikawa replied. He bit down on his own lip, his fangs puncturing the skin. Then Oikawa murmured, "Make a contract with me, Iwa-chan."

"I already said I would, idiot," Iwaizumi grumbled. Oikawa laughed a little, then bit down, his fangs sinking into Iwaizumi's skin easily. Oikawa's blood from his bitten lip and Iwaizumi's blood, drawn by Oikawa's fangs, flowed into the vampire's mouth. Oikawa swallowed carefully, and the tingle of magic washed over him, settling into place with a weight that was more comforting than restricting. After a few more mouthfuls of blood, Oikawa lifted his head, only to duck down again and lap away a few drops of blood that welled up in the puncture wounds. Iwaizumi shivered and growled, "Please don't do that here." Oikawa blinked, then smirked as he finally realized why Iwaizumi had gotten all tense the last time Oikawa had done that. 

"Iwa-chan  _like_ _s_ that," Oikawa cooed, smirk growing as Iwaizumi blushed.

"Please shut up," the hunter grumbled. Oikawa licked his lips, making sure all traces of blood were gone, then leaned in to kiss the corner of Iwaizumi's mouth. Iwaizumi's blush grew slightly, and his frown melted away.

"Let's get you home and find something for you to eat. Then we can figure out how to tell Yahaba and the others that we went through all of that trouble to dissolve the contract between us, only for us to decide to make a new one!" Oikawa said happily. Iwaizumi sighed. "But first..." Iwaizumi tilted his head curiously, and Oikawa took advantage and leaned in for another kiss.

"Hajime," Iwaizumi said when Oikawa finally pulled back. "My given name," he explained. "You can use it, if you want." Oikawa let out a thoughtful hum, then tried the name out.

"Hajime," he murmured. "Hajime, Hajime. I like it," he decided. Iwaizumi shivered, and Oikawa grinned. "And you like it, too, don't you?" he almost purred. Iwaizumi flushed, and Oikawa threw his arms around his neck happily. "How about I keep calling you Iwa-chan when other people are around, hm? I wouldn't want to embarrass you."

"You're ridiculous," Iwaizumi informed him, but he didn't object. The hunter hesitated, and Oikawa guessed what he was thinking.

"You can call me Tooru if you want," he assured him. "We have an extra special bond now, don't you think?"

"I'm going to push you out of bed tonight," Iwaizumi informed him. Oikawa laughed.

"I'll just pout at you until you cuddle me," the vampire informed him. "It worked last time." Iwaizumi couldn't argue with that, so he took the vampire's hand instead.

"Hunters' base, or vampire territory?" Iwaizumi asked.

"Yahaba will probably go with Kyoutani to your group's lair," Oikawa replied. "He can tell the others I'm alive and well, and we can go see everyone in person tomorrow." They headed toward the hunters' home.

Yahaba was already there with Kyoutani when they arrived. Yahaba took one look at them and the blood magic once again tying them together and just turned on his heel and marched to Kyoutani's room, closing the door behind him. Oikawa and Iwaizumi looked at each other and shrugged. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the plot. I'm planning to write an epilogue, which should be posted in the next day or two, but this is officially a Happy Ending. I know that there are some loose ends to tie up, such as living arrangements, the whole hunter/vampire thing, etc., which is why there's going to be an epilogue.


	16. Epilogue

_After the incidents with Suguru and Ushijima, the highest-ranking vampires had called a meeting with the best hunter groups. A combined border patrol force had been established, with Iwaizumi leading the humans and Oikawa and Sawamura leading the vampires. This way, trespassing vampires could be returned to vampire territory to be handled by their own kind, and both sides could work together. Relations between vampires and humans had improved slightly, since both sides were now confident that if they were to get in trouble with the other, there would be someone on their side, and a new garrison was being built on the border that would house human and vampire representatives alike. In the meantime, Iwaizumi's hunters had temporarily moved into the border vampire garrison so that everyone could get to know each other._

"Tooru, wake up," Iwaizumi murmured, rubbing circles into the vampire's back in an attempt to gently wake him up. Oikawa made a disgruntled sound and hid his face in Iwaizumi's neck. 

"No," the vampire grumbled. Iwaizumi waited a few minutes, then shifted tactics. He slid his hand down Oikawa's side until he reached what he knew was a very ticklish spot, then dug his fingertips in. Oikawa shrieked and scrambled away. He would have fallen off the bed if Iwaizumi hadn't caught him and pulled him back. Oikawa huffed indignantly, but settled beside Iwaizumi again.

"Good morning," Iwaizumi said, grinning at the rather offended vampire in his arms. 

"No it's not. And you're evil," Oikawa announced. 

"Am I? I thought you'd want to be up before Suga decides we've slept in too long and comes to check on us," Iwaizumi replied lightly. Oikawa remembered the last time Suga had decided to come wake them up and decided it was a very lovely morning after all, and scrambled to get ready before there was a repeat of that particular incident.

Yahaba was in the kitchen, eating with Kyoutani and Matsukawa, when Iwaizumi and Oikawa finally made their way down. Oikawa perched on the counter, watching the humans as they ate. Matsukawa had a fresh bite mark on his neck, Oikawa noticed. He was about to ask where Hanamaki was - the other vampire tended to stick closer than usual to his human the day after feeding, so it was rare to see Mattsun with a bite mark and no Makki nearby - when Oikawa's gaze landed on Kyoutani's neck.

"What the hell, Yahaba?" Oikawa blurted out. "Are you becoming a vampire, too?" Yahaba and the others frowned at him, not understanding, until they followed his astonished stare to Kyoutani, who was sporting an impressive collection of hickeys and what looked like bites from human teeth. Kyoutani blinked at them, then slowly seemed to realize what everyone was staring at and flushed scarlet. Honestly, Oikawa couldn't believe that no one had noticed before he got there. 

"Shigeru," Kyoutani hissed. Oikawa blinked.

"Oh, that's new," the vampire hummed. "Yahaba, that's adorable. Are you going to start calling him Kentarou?" 

"I'm sorry, Iwaizumi, but your vampire is probably going to die," Yahaba announced, glaring at Oikawa, who just grinned.

"Aw, Yahaba, you wouldn't kill me," Oikawa said lightly. 

"No, but I might," Kyoutani growled. 

"Now, now, kids, play nice, okay?" Suga warned, walking into the room. He paused, eyeing Kyoutani's neck in surprise, then sighed and shook his head. "Please have Kunimi take a look at that." Kyoutani managed to get even redder. Yahaba looked incredibly smug.

"Yahaba, did you use your magic to increase the bruising?" Matsukawa asked, leaning over for a better look at Kyoutani's neck. "That's impressive. What else can you do with your powers? You don't use them around other people much, and i always forget to ask."

"I can make your blood destroy your body from the inside out," Yahaba offered calmly. Matsukawa shrugged, seeming unaffected by the threat as Hanamaki walked in and draped his arms over the human's shoulders, resting his chin on top of his head.

"Yahaba, don't threaten my- oh, wow, that's impressive," Hanamaki whistled, eyeing Kyoutani.

"Quit harassing Kyoutani," Iwaizumi grumbled. Oikawa abandoned his perch on the counter and situated himself in Iwaizumi's lap instead. Iwaizumi huffed at having to reach around Oikawa as he ate, but didn't push the vampire off his lap. 

"Can we harass you instead, then?" Hanamaki asked, all wide-eyed innocence. "I mean, after that whole speech Issei gave you on using your teeth, and I have yet to see any marks on Oikawa."

"Hey, Hanamaki," Iwaizumi began calmly. "Do you remember that shooting competition Suga, Kyoutani, Kindaichi, and I had last week? Or the unarmed combat training we've been doing? I know you and the other vampires have been watching. Some of them have even participated." Hanamaki nodded slowly, and Matsukawa frowned. Neither of them seemed to know what this had to do with them teasing everyone. "Why don't you think back for a few minutes and try to remember who wins those competitions and runs the training?" Hanamaki and Matsukawa suddenly understood very clearly what this had to do with them teasing people. Oikawa smirked at them from his place on Iwaizumi's lap. As much as he enjoyed his friends' antics, sometimes there was just something incredibly satisfying about Iwaizumi telling them to stop.

"Is everyone just sitting in the kitchen instead of- Kyoutani what happened to your neck?" Sawamura gasped. Kyoutani sagged forward, his forehead hitting the table as he grumbled something about killing Yahaba.

"Daichi, leave the poor human alone," Suga admonished. "Yahaba, why don't you and Kyoutani go see if Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are back from night patrol yet?" Kyoutani fled, Yahaba following him a moment later. "And have Kunimi take a look at your neck!" Suga called after them. A sound that might have been an embarrassed whine reached them from the direction Yahaba and Kyoutani had gone.

"Suga, you're always telling us to be nice to each other, but you're really sneaky and cruel," Hanamaki observed, an approving tone in his voice.

"Why don't you have a seat and we can chat about that, Hanamaki?" Suga replied. Hanamaki blinked at Suga.

"Cruel," he repeated under his breath. Suga just gave him a bright, friendly smile. 

"Let's go," Iwaizumi murmured. Oikawa nodded and got to his feet. 

"What's on our schedule for today?" he asked. 

"Well, first we have to check on the progress of the new garrison. Then we have training in the afternoon," Iwaizumi replied. Oikawa hummed as they left the kitchen, the sounds of Makki complaining to Matsukawa that Suga was being mean to him following them. Iwaizumi held out his hand, and Oikawa took it happily as they walked together toward the new garrison under construction. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been the Vampire AU, which I might return to once I do some work on my other AUs.   
> For now, though, everyone in this AU is happy and safe!   
> Feel free to join me in any of my other AUs if you haven't given them a try already!


End file.
